Against Murder in Prisons,Joint Campaign for the Release of Political, Cultural and Civil Prisoners!

Against Murder in Prisons,  Joint Campaign for the Release of Political, Cultural and Civil Prisoners!

After the killing of Baktash Abtin, a member of the Iranian Writers' Association (IWA), due to deliberate negligence for his medical needs after suffering from Covid 19, Mehdi Salehi, one of the detainees of the December 2017 uprising, because of "injecting the wrong medicine" and intentional delay in sending him to a hospital outside the prison has suffered a stroke. Mehdi Salehi was injured in the head during the shooting by the repressive forces and was charged in court with charges such as "inciting war", "revolt" and "corruption on earth". He was first sentenced to death, but his sentence was later commuted.

Silent killings in the prisons of the Islamic Republic have become commonplace by undermining the inalienable right of political prisoners to receive medical treatment and care. Following the killing of Baktash Abtin, political prisoners in various prisons have issued collective statements in protest of these criminal acts calling for collective action against the Islamic Republic's policies in prisons and cessation of these policies.

After the killing of Baktash Abtin and its widespread reflection in the society and condemning the role of the regime in this kind of killings, the judiciary of the Islamic Republic was forced to issue a circular on "explaining the rights of detainees." But what has prevailed in the prisons of the Islamic Republic for 43 years is not due to the lack of directives, but the will of the regime to eliminate the opposition in any way possible. In the same vein, the threat of prisoners holding a memorial ceremony for Baktash Abtin and the attempt to relegate them to other prisons is a continuation of the same routine practice before the issuance of the circular in prison. One example is the insistence on the relegation of Keyvan Samimi, president of the Association for the Defense of Press Freedom and a political activist imprisoned in Evin, to another prison, despite his poor physical condition and history of heart disease. Reza Khandan Mahabadi, Keyvan Bajan and Arash Ganji, three other imprisoned members of the (IWA), Narges Mohammadi, Nasrin Sotoudeh and all other political, ideological, and civil prisoners are exposed to another catastrophe with the continuation of the criminal policies of the Islamic Republic.

Keyvan Samimi was arrested after participating in the International Workers' Day protest rally in May 2019 and was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of "conspiracy to act against the security of the country." He has been transferred to Evin Prison since December 7, 2020, during the Covid epidemic, to serve his sentence. The regime's insistence on the execution of Keyvan Samimi’s sentence during the outbreak of Covid 19 in prisons, given his physical condition and old age (73 years) is equivalent to the death sentence for participating in a rally on the occasion of the International Workers' Day.

Narges Mohammadi, while attending the second anniversary of Ebrahim Ketabdar, one of the victims in November 2019, was arrested, beaten, and assaulted by security agents and sent to Evin Prison on November 16. His exact condition is unknown. The regime intends to execute the sentence of 30 months imprisonment and eighty lashes issued by the Criminal Court, which was issued without her presence.

Many other union, political, cultural, and civil activists have been fired, held in prison despite their illness, sentenced to prison, flogging and fines for their union activities and participation in protests or sent to solitary confinement after protesting their sentences.

The Left Party of Iran (People's Fadaian) holds the Islamic Republic responsible for the killing of political prisoners in prisons and condemns the conditions of prisons and the false sentences of the courts of the Islamic Republic against political, cultural, and civil activists. Our party demands the immediate release of members of the IWA, human rights activists and all political and civil prisoners. We call on all political activists and organizations, democratic and cultural communities of the country, and human rights organizations to spare no effort for the release of political prisoners.

We declare our readiness to participate in the campaign for the immediate and unconditional release of members of the IWA, human rights lawyers, and other political, ideological, civil, and cultural prisoners from prison. We call on the international community to condemn the Islamic Republic of Iran for the murder of writers, political prisoners, prisoners of conscience and civil activists in prison, to demand the unconditional release of writers, lawyers, and political, ideological, and civil activists, and to demand the recognition of freedom of opinion, expression, and association in Iran.

Political-Executive Board of the Left Party of Iran (People’s Fadaian)

January 16, 2022