NCRI – Support for imprisoned Iranian workers’ rights activist Jafar Azimzadeh’s hunger strike has come from all sides; allies in the West, fellow political prisoners and the mother of a murdered Iranian dissident.
Sholeh Pakravan, the mother of Reyhaneh Jabbari, has spoken prominently about the human rights abuses in Iran since her daughter was executed in 2014, and has now written an open letter of support to Mr. Azimzadeh.
In the letter, she addressed current critical issues including the negligence to this political prisoner and flogging the workers of Agh Darreh and Bafgh. These brutal acts are an attempt to create a society with downtrodden, cheap and silent workforce so the foreign investors aren’t confronted with the reality of the conditions and the country can become a global trader.
She wrote that the silent execution of contractor workers and the detainment of their representatives illustrate the official return of slavery in Iran.
She encouraged the Iranian people to stand up against the regime, warning of a terrible future if the regime is allowed to prevail. She wrote: “The fate of your children will be nothing but suffering and pain. Talk about your livelihood demands in the street. Let your wishes and expectations be clearly met by the authorities. Support the demands of prisoners’ representatives and talk about them in private and public forums.”
She continued with this sad metaphor of Iran. She wrote: “Behind the charming smiles of the officials, hides the crushed body and soul of the imprisoned children of Iran, the hunger strikes, the pressure of interrogation and cowardly provisions. Behind the big wall of lies, there exist the hundred invisible gallows which silently executes our loved ones.”
Mr. Azimzadeh, a political prisoner who is being held in Evin Prison, has been on hunger strike for 51 days so far.
Sholeh Pakravan’s daughter, Reyhaneh Jabbari, was executed on October 25, 2014 for killing an intelligence agent of the mullahs’ regime who tried to rape her seven years earlier when she was just 19 years old.