Six Political Prisoners Launch Hunger Strike in Evin Prison
Six political prisoners in Ward Four of Evin Prison have launched a hunger strike “in protest of unfair trial proceedings and prison conditions.” They have emphasized that they will continue their strike until their demands are met.
On Tuesday, July 16 (25 Tir), the “Campaign for Human Rights in Iran” published an open letter from Mohsen Aminpour, Ali Bazyazardeh, Behrouz Zareie, Hossein Sarlak, Reza Mohammadhosseini, and Morteza Nazari-Shdahi, political prisoners in Ward Four of Evin Prison.
The authors began their letter to the Iranian people by criticizing the fact that the cases of political activists are classified as “security-related” by Iranian intelligence officials, and that the judicial system has not provided a definition of political charges and political prisoners.
While protesting the failure to separate political prisoners from other inmates, which they describe as “non-implementation of prison regulations,” they wrote: “The poor conditions in Islamic Republic prisons have periodically led to tragedies and incidents, the most recent of which was the brutal killing of political prisoner Ali Reza Shirmohammadali in Tehran’s Grand Prison or Fashafuyeh.”
The six political prisoners also protested the prevention of defense attorneys chosen by political defendants from entering “Revolutionary Courts,” the lengthy time taken to adjudicate prisoners’ cases in the ward “which extends to over two years,” and “the issuance of death sentences and heavy sentences” for political convicts.
The letter continues: “In this regard and as a sign of protest, we, a group of political prisoners in Evin Prison located in Ward Four, in protest of these wrongful practices and unsuitable prison conditions in all respects, including the matter of food rations, have begun a hunger strike as of July 24 (24 Tir), and we will continue this protest until our demands are met. We hope our weak voice reaches the ears of all officials and they address our rightful demands.”
The letter’s authors have requested “the honorable people of Iran” to convey their voice of protest “to the ears of all people in the world.”
Prisoners’ Demands
The six political prisoners have outlined their demands as follows:
“Separation of political prisoners from other inmates, whether in men’s or women’s prisons; acceptance of conditional release for political prisoners; elimination of the term ‘security-related’ and official recognition of political prisoners; judges at the Revolutionary Court not showing bias toward the lawyers of political prisoners; right to legal representation from the time of arrest to the final stage of political defendants’ cases; annulment of all death sentences and heavy multi-year sentences for political prisoners; swift implementation of bail provisions for the time period until trial of political prisoners with reasonable bail amounts; careful and proper attention to the nutritional status and food rations of political prisoners.”
Hossein Sarlak has been sentenced to 12 years in prison, Mohsen Aminpour (Kian Irani) to 10 years, Morteza Nazari-Shdahi (Ashok) to six years, and Ali Bazyazardeh and Behrouz Zareie to two years. Reza Mohammadhosseini, who has been imprisoned for the past two months, has not yet received a sentence and remains in legal limbo.
Source: DW
