Solidarity of Labor Leader with Political Prisoners on Hunger Strike

"Jafar Azimzadeh", the secretary of the board of the "Free Workers' Union of Iran", has expressed solidarity with the political prisoners who are on hunger strike. These young individuals and all imprisoned labor and political activists have committed no crime. They have neither taken up arms, nor committed billion-dollar embezzlements, nor are they recipients of astronomical salaries, nor have they engaged in corruption, nor have they caused any minor traffic jams by organizing mass protests in the streets. Jafar Azimzadeh, the secretary of the board of the Free Workers' Union of Iran, was sentenced to six years in prison on March 1, 2015, by the Islamic Revolutionary Court on charges of "gathering and colluding with the intent to act against security" and "disrupting public order". He was released from prison last July after a 63-day hunger strike upon posting a bail of 450 million tomans. The message from the secretary of the board of the Free Workers' Union of Iran, dated December 27, begins as follows: "63 days, 62 days, 55 days, and 20 days have passed respectively since the hunger strikes of Arash Sadeghi, Morteza Moradpour, Ali Shariati, and Saeed Shirzad. These young individuals and all imprisoned labor and political activists have committed no crime. They have neither taken up arms, nor committed billion-dollar embezzlements, nor are they recipients of astronomical salaries, nor have they engaged in corruption, nor have they caused any minor traffic jams by organizing mass protests in the streets." He continued, "They have only spoken out, done written work, and at most expressed their opinions in the media and raised humanitarian demands in limited gatherings." Jafar Azimzadeh, who himself was released from prison last July after a two-month hunger strike, wrote in another part of his message, "These young individuals and others such as Ayatollah Nokonam and Mohammad Ali Taheri have gone on hunger strike in protest against baseless and security-related charges, and Arash Sadeghi, Morteza Moradpour, and Ali Shariati are in the most painful situation, on the brink of losing their lives. However, despite this great tragedy, the government, the judiciary, and security institutions not only pay no attention to their legitimate demands but are waiting to force these young individuals to surrender through prolonging and intensifying the torture resulting from hunger and even their deaths." This labor leader in Iran added, "In the face of such a disastrous approach from the rulers, we must compel the government, the judiciary, and security institutions to concede to the legitimate demands of these prisoners and to immediately stop the securityization of peaceful labor and political activities." The Free Workers' Union of Iran stated in late December that judicial officials had warned the bailers of Jafar Azimzadeh that if he did not report to prison within a month, his bail of 450 million tomans would be confiscated.