Six political prisoners on hunger strike in Evin Prison
Six political prisoners in Ward 4 of Evin Prison have gone on a hunger strike “to protest the unfair trial process and prison conditions.” They have emphasized that they will continue the strike until their demands are met.
On Tuesday, July 16, the “Campaign for Human Rights in Iran” published an open letter from Mohsen Aminpour, Ali Bazazardeh, Behrouz Zare, Hossein Sarlak, Reza Mohammad Hosseini, and Morteza Nazari-Sadehi, political prisoners in Ward 4 of Evin Prison.
The authors began their letter to the Iranian nation with the criticism that the cases of political activists are considered "security" by Iranian intelligence officers and that the judicial system has not provided a definition of political charges and political prisoners.
While protesting the lack of separation of political prisoners from other prisoners, which is considered a “failure to implement the Prisons Organization’s regulations,” they wrote: “The poor conditions of the Islamic Republic’s prisons occasionally lead to tragedies and incidents, the most recent of which was the gruesome murder of political prisoner, Ravanshad Mr. Ali Reza Shir Mohammad Ali, in the Greater Tehran Prison or Fashafoyeh.”
Six political prisoners have also protested the prevention of access to the chosen lawyer of a political defendant in the "revolutionary courts", the long time it takes to process cases of prisoners in the ward, "which can reach more than 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 of Evin Prison located in Andarzgah Chahar, have been on a hunger strike since July 14th to protest these wrong practices and the inadequate conditions of prisoners in all matters, even regarding food rations. We will continue this protest until our demands are met. We hope that our weak voice will reach the ears of all officials and that they will address our legitimate demands."
The authors of the letter have called on “the honorable people of Iran” to “make their voices of protest heard by the entire world.”
Prisoners' demands
Six political prisoners have stated their demands as follows:
"Separating political prisoners from other prisoners, whether in the prison of honorable men or women; accepting conditional release of political prisoners; eliminating the term security and recognizing political prisoners; not treating political prisoners' lawyers in a biased manner by judges of the Revolutionary Court; having a lawyer from the moment of arrest until the last stage of the case of political defendants; annulling all death sentences and heavy sentences of political prisoners for many years; quickly implementing the issue of bail until the trial of political prisoners with reasonable bail; carefully and properly addressing the nutritional status and diet of political prisoners."
Hossein Sarlak has been sentenced to 12 years in prison, Mohsen Aminpour (Kian Irani) to 10 years in prison, Morteza Nazarisedehi (Ashok) to six years in prison, Ali Bazazardeh and Behrouz Zare to two years in prison. Reza Mohammad Hosseini, who has been in prison for two months, has not yet been sentenced and is in limbo.
Source: DW
