Signatories of Statement 14 and their families called for the release of political prisoners

On the eve of the anniversary of the statement's publication, 15 family members and signatories of the 14th Statement (demanding the resignation of Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic) called for the unconditional release of political prisoners, including the imprisoned signatories of the statement.

The signatories of the statement, a copy of which was also sent to VOA, say that as the third year of the statement's publication begins, some of its signatories, including Mohammad Nourizad, Giti Pourfazel, Reza Mehregan, and Zahra Jamali in Evin Prison and Hashem Khastar, Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, and Kamal Jafari Yazdi in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, are still "prisoners of injustice."

The signatories of this letter, among whom are Zaratosht Ahmadi Ragheb, Shahla Entesari, Shahla Jahanbin, and Javad Lal Mohammadi, signatories of Statement 14, and the families of Mohammad Nourizad, Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, and Hashem Khastar, say: "We demand the unconditional freedom of our friends and loved ones, and we consider expressing our opinions, opposition, criticism, and protest against tyranny to be our legal and fundamental rights and those of all Iranian citizens."

The statement continued, "Imprisoning informed and freedom-loving activists is a violation of civil rights and contrary to human rights laws, and the ruling regime is obligated to stop breaking the law and tyranny, and unconditionally release prominent political prisoners, including our loved ones in the Statement 14 prison."

In June 2019, 14 political and civil activists issued a statement calling for Khamenei to resign and change the Iranian constitution. They said the current constitution had created “a dictatorial parliament, an unelected government, and an independent judiciary.” In mid-August of the same year, 14 female civil activists, concerned about the inequalities and problems faced by women in Iran, issued a letter calling for the Islamic Republic to be abolished and a new constitution to be drafted.

The Islamic Republic's security officials accused the signatories of these letters of attempting to "plan a new sedition" and arrested many of the signatories of these two letters, some of whom were temporarily released after a while, while others remain in detention.