Hossein Sarlak, Morteza Nazari Sadahei, Mohsen Aminpour, Reza Bazazadeh, Behrooz Zare, and Reza Mohammad Hosseini, 6 political prisoners in Evin prison Ward 4, announced in an open letter to the Iranian people: “We started our hunger strike on Monday, July 15th, 2019 in protest against unfair trials and prison conditions.”
Part of this open letter signed by these political prisoners says: “We are a group of political prisoners at Evin Prison, Section 4, starting on July 15th, 2019, we will go on hunger strike of all food, even on rations. We will continue to protest the inappropriate conditions of prisoners until our demands are met, and we hope our small voices will come to the attention of all the officials to address our demands.”
The six individuals in this open letter also called for the “separation of political prisoners from other prisoners in both men and women prison, the acceptance of the conditional release of political prisoners, the removal of the word security, the recognition of political prisoners, fare treatment of political prisoners’ lawyers by the judges of the revolutionary court, having a lawyer from the time of arrested to the last stage of the political prisoner’s case, the cancellation of all death sentences and the heavy sentences of several years of political prisoners, fast processing of bail bonds until the trial of political prisoners with reasonable bail, and precise attention to food and ration for political prisoners.”
Quoting an informed source, the Human Rights Campaign wrote that Evin Prison officials summoned the six men to the office and asked them to break their hunger strike.
The text of these political prisoners’ statements is as follows:
Dear countryman,
Over the years, we have witnessed the fact that the cases of political activists were considered by security officials to be security cases, and there was no definition of political charges against political prisoners during the proceedings in the judiciary system, and thousands of prisoners throughout the country were arrested for untrue alleged political activities. Those who, given the recent years disasters economic conditions and the bad livelihood, only have been criticized of government actions and are now criticizing the actions by protesting the placing bad policies without any research, eliminating elites and prominent intellectuals, and experts that are loyal to nation and the people. The protesters who are opposed to regulatory, executive, and administrative plans, currently are serving lengthy imprisonment.
In addition, the lack of implementation of the Prisons Organization Regulations on the separation of political prisoners from other prisoners and the poor conditions in the prisons of the Islamic Republic have occasionally led to disasters and incidents, the latest of which was the killing of political prisoners, Mr. Alireza Shir Mohammad Ali in the Greater Tehran Prison, that was tremendously harsh. Preventing the political prisoner’s lawyer’s attendance in the Revolutionary Courts, the length of time for processing the prisoner cases that lasts more than two years. The judges of revolutionary courts personal preferences on treating political prisoners’ elected lawyers. The issuance of death sentences and heavy sentences against political convicts in the revolutionary courts, which are the wrong methods of the judiciary.
In the same manner, and in protest, we are a group of political prisoners at Evin Prison, in Section 4, starting on July 15th, 2019, we will go on hunger strike. We will continue to protest the inappropriate conditions of prisoners until our demands are met, and we hope our small voices will come to the attention of all the officials to address our demands
We ask the noble people of Iran to be our voice to the whole world, and we are also grateful and indebted to the honorable people of our beloved country.
Demands of protesters:
– Separation of political prisoners from other prisoners, whether held in women’s prison or men’s prison.
– Acceptance of conditional release of political prisoners
– Removal of the word Security and the recognition of political prisoners
– Fare treatment of political prisoners’ lawyers by the judges of the revolutionary court
– having a lawyer from the time of arrested to the last stage of the political prisoner’s case.
– Cancelation of all death sentences and the heavy sentences of several years for political prisoners
– Fast processing of bail bonds until the trial of political prisoners with reasonable bail amount
– Precise attention to food and ration for political prisoners
Names of participants in the hunger strike and protest:
۱ – Hossein Sarlak – Sentenced 12 years – Detention time: 30 months
۲ – Morteza Nazari Sadahei (Ashok) – Sentenced to 6 years – Detention time: 24 months
۳ – Mohsen Aminpour (Iranian Qian) – Sentenced 10 years – Detention time: 16 months
۴ – Ali (Reza) Bazazadeh – Sentenced to 2 years – Detention time: 18 months
۵- Behrooz Zare – Sentenced to 2 years – Detention time: 12 months
۶ – Reza Mohammad Hosseini – Not yet sentenced – Detention Duration: 2 months