End of hunger strike; Saba Kord Afshari's letter from Qarchak Prison, Varamin

Saba Kordafshari, a civil activist imprisoned in Qarchak Prison in Varamin, ended her hunger strike on Monday, May 17. Ms. Kordafshari, who had been on a hunger strike since Saturday, May 8, to protest the increasing pressure on her family and other political prisoners and to demand the release of her mother, Raheleh Ahmadi, has now written a letter explaining the reasons for breaking the strike and her physical condition.

According to HRANA News Agency, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, on Monday, May 17, 2021, Saba Kordafshari, a civil activist imprisoned in Qarchak Prison in Varamin, ended her hunger strike.

Ms. Kord Afshari, who had been on a hunger strike since Saturday, May 8, to protest the increasing pressure on her family and other political prisoners and to demand the release of her mother, Raheleh Ahmadi, who was sentenced to prison for informing about her son's condition and is currently serving her sentence in Evin Prison, has now written a letter explaining the reasons for breaking the strike and her physical condition.

He had previously announced his hunger strike and medical strike in a letter on Tuesday, May 11, and explained the reasons for this action.

The full text of this letter, which was provided to HRANA for publication, follows:

"For years, the response to protests and strikes has been beatings and shelling. For years, if you open your mouth and speak out about your violated rights and beliefs, you will receive no response other than arrest, solitary confinement, mental and physical torture, imprisonment, and execution. For years, if families seek justice against the killing and imprisonment of their children, they will have no other fate than the fate of their children. For years, they have been trying to eliminate thinking and reasoning, the right to choose and make decisions in this country, and to raise people like robots with absurd and dry beliefs."

But they could not and never will be able to inject into us what is in their rusty, uneducated brains. They cannot dictate to others thoughts that even they themselves do not believe in. In front of me, our hands, tied in protest, greet us with cannons and rifles, and they cannot stand the pens that express our beliefs and ideals and destroy them.

The same process is repeated in prisons. A prisoner whose only means of struggle are hunger strikes and sit-ins are forced to remain silent by various methods. Demands are met with violence. You have destroyed us and our pens. But how can you destroy what we cherish in our thoughts and are not afraid to say?! The struggle for freedom does not end with pressure or threats, but finds its way in a stormy environment and reaches its conclusion.

On May 8, 1402, I went on a hunger strike to end the pressure on the families of political prisoners and to demand the release of my mother, Rahleh Asl Ahmadi, but unfortunately I am not in good physical condition. I am fully aware that human life has no value to the Islamic Republic, so I am forced to end my hunger strike, but I continue to seek the realization of my demands. Oppression has never been sustainable and will never be sustainable.

Saba Kordafshari/May 17, 2021/Qarchak Prison, Varamin.”

Saba Kordafshari was previously sent on short-term leave on April 4 after posting bail and returned to prison on April 11 after her leave ended. Raheleh Ahmadi, Saba Kordafshari's mother, also returned to Evin Prison on Saturday, April 11, after her leave ended and after the authorities opposed her request to extend her leave for treatment. She had been sent on medical leave on March 14, 2020, after posting bail. Ms. Ahmadi requires surgery due to a ruptured disc and two months of rest after the surgery.

Raheleh Ahmadi previously faced medical problems due to nervous stress following the deportation of her daughter Saba Kordafshari to Qarchak Prison in Varamin. She suffered a ruptured disc and needed to use a walker to walk.

Saba Kord Afshari, a civil activist and opponent of compulsory hijab, was released from the women's ward of Evin Prison in February 2018 after her previous conviction, but was arrested again by security forces on June 1, 2019. She was eventually sentenced in September 2019 by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court to 15 years in prison for the charge of "spreading corruption and prostitution by uncovering the hijab and walking without it," 1 year and 6 months in prison for the charge of "propaganda against the system," and 7 years and 6 months in prison for the charge of "gathering and colluding with the intention of committing a crime against national security," for a total of 24 years in prison along with other social deprivations. In the case of 22-year-old Saba Kord Afshari, 7 years and 6 months in prison will ultimately be applicable by applying the Law on Reduction of Sentences and Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code.

Raheleh Asl Ahmadi, a imprisoned civil activist and mother of Saba Kord Afshari, was sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison by the Tehran Revolutionary Court in December 2019. According to the verdict issued by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, Raheleh Asl Ahmadi was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison for the charge of “gathering and colluding against the security of the country through cooperation with “hostile” media outlets” and to 8 months in prison for the charge of “propaganda against the Islamic Republic system,” for a total of 4 years and 2 months in prison. Ms. Ahmadi was also acquitted of the charge of “encouraging corruption by uncovering the hijab in public places and publishing it in cyberspace.” Based on this amount, based on Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, the most severe punishment, namely 3 years and 6 months in prison for the charge of “gathering and colluding against the security of the country through cooperation with “hostile” media outlets,” is applicable to Ms. Ahmadi. This sentence was eventually reduced to 2 years and 7 months of imprisonment after she did not object to the verdict and submitted to the verdict. Ms. Ahmadi was finally arrested on February 16, 2019, after appearing at Branch 3 of the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office for the Execution of Sentences and transferred to Evin Prison to serve her sentence.

Source: HRANA