Iran has some of the most notorious and brutal prisons in the world. Many of the political prisoners are writers, thinkers, activists, lawyers, and journalists. According to The Guardian Iran has most journalists in jail passing China and Cuba. Despite all torture, abuse and pressure, it is fascinating to see that the prisoners have kept their spirit of unity and solidarity. They demand their right even though they are certain that the brutal regime does not understand human rights. Among the signatories are jailed labour activist Mansour Osanlou, Rasoul Bedaghi of the Iranian Teacher’s Association, journalists Issa Saharkhiz and Reza Rafii, political activists Heshmatollah Tabarzadi and Behrouz Javid, and student activists Ali Ajami and Majid Tavakoli. The whole Iranian community should go on fasting in solidarity with our prisoners. Let us bring the month of Ramaḍān in Jumādā I.
According to Radio Zamaneh, political prisoners at Karaj’s Rajai Shahr prison have started a hunger strike starting Sunday, April 9 in solidarity with Fakhrolsadat Mohtashamipour, who has been on hunger strike in Evin prison to demand a personal visit with her husband. Fakhrossadat Mohtashamipour, wife of veteran reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh. She is also known for the numerous letters she has written to Tehran's prosecutor and the judicial authorities regarding the unacceptable condition of her incarcerated husband.
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| Khatami Visits Tajzadeh On Prison Leave |
Another prisoners who went on hunger strike was Nasrin Sotoudeh.
PEN American Center announced her name as the recipient of its 2011 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. Nasrin Sotoudeh (born in 1963) is a writer, lawyer, and leader of the women’s and children’s rights movement in Iran. She represented imprisoned opposition activists and politicians as well as juveniles facing death penalty. Her clients have included noted journalist Isa Saharkhiz and Heshmat Tabarzadi. Sotoudeh was arrested in September 4, 2010 on charges of threatening the national security. In January 2011, Iranian authorities sentenced Sotoudeh to 11 years in prison in addition to barring her from practicing law and from leaving the country for 20 years. Watch her speech (in Farsi with English subtitle).
Sotoudeh has gone on several hunger strikes since her arrest, refusing even water during one 11-day stretch, to protest her detention and ill-treatment inside Evin Prison. She has reportedly lost a considerable amount of weight and is in poor health. She is being held in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, where she has spent much of the time in solitary confinement. Sotoudeh is still awaiting a decision in the court of appeals.
To protest her detention and ill treatment Sotoudeh went on hunger strike. Watch Nasrin Sotoudeh on hunger strike:
Watch MSNBC Interview with Sotoudeh in Teharan, Iran in 2009 (when she was free):
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