The 12 political prisoners on hunger strike at Evin prison, protesting the killings of Haleh Sahabi and Hoda Saber, ended their hunger strike yesterday, Sunday June 26th, 2011.

After 9 days of hunger strike in a statement published from prison, the 12 political prisoners on hunger strike at Evin announced that they have ended their hunger strike. The complete content of their statement is as follows:

In the name of God,

To the honorable nation of Iran,

The regret and sorrow over the unexpected and surprising death of Hoda Saber was a heavy and unbearable burden for his prison mates.  A hunger strike was the bare minimum act of protest towards this disastrous occurrence; something that Hoda Saber himself engaged in after the innocent martyrdom of Haleh Sahabi.

As Hoda Saber’s prison mates, the hunger strike was on the one hand a calling by our conscience and a means to fulfill our moral obligations and on the other hand our outcry and rage against the injustice towards Hoda Saber and Hale Sahabi, two responsible, Muslim citizens who were killed while upholding their ideals and aspirations.

Our hunger strike was a collective act of protest against the institutionalization of injudiciousness, lies and hypocrisy in segments of the ruling government. 

We 12 political prisoners at Evin’s ward 350 announced the launch of a hunger strike on Saturday June 18th, 2011 with the hope that our cry of protest would reach the outside world, becoming an obstacle against a government intent on violating the rights of its citizens. 

During the time we were on hunger strike, many of our prison mates at Evin’s ward 350 expressed their willingness to join the hunger strike; many skipped meals and fasted and in their own way demonstrated their solidarity with those of us on hunger strike.  We would like to express our unwavering gratitude to our dear prison mates for their support and encouragement that further confirmed the legitimacy of our actions.

The behavior by the authorities and the fact that we were summoned to the judiciary during our hunger strike only further demonstrates the clear lack of responsibility, accountability and of course the inefficiency and weakness of our judicial system.  The recent events were once again a means to test and demonstrate that the life of a prisoner is of little to no importance to the judicial and security officials.

Our dear compatriots,

This hunger strike also demonstrated the vast support from the nation of Iran and our civil society.  This support was just as important as the hunger strike itself and demonstrates that the Green movement of the nation of Iran is alive and dynamic.

The wave of support and solidarity with this hunger strike showed the public consciousness and disagreement with the violation of the rights of political prisoners.  It also proved that the challenges associated with the rights of political prisoners and their freedom continue to be one of the priorities and demands of our nation.

We would express our thanks and gratitude to all those who supported us during this hunger strike, particularly the families of Saber and Sahabi, the great Ayatollahs and religious, political and national figures, political parties and groups, human rights activists and organizations, media outlets, journalists, doctors and lawyers who sent us their kind messages of support, demonstrating their concern for our health and well being and requesting that we put an end to our hunger strike.

We are also forever grateful to our dear friends at Rajai Shahr prison for joining us on this hunger strike and would like to express our thanks to our suffering families and all our compatriots outside the country who patiently stood along side us showing their unwavering support.

In response to the kind and loving messages we have received from the aforementioned, while expressing our respect and thanks, we announce that we ended our hunger strike on the evening of Sunday June 26th, 2011. Without a doubt, this will not be the end of civil protests against the human rights violations and injustices that have occurred and the protests of the Green nation of Iran will continue until we have achieved freedom and access to our full rights as individuals and as a society at large.

(Our gratitude to Emadeddin Baghi and Mohammad Javad Mozafar who participated in the initial days of the hunger strike and were replaced with other prison mates when they were released from prison)

Signatories:

Bahman Ahmadi Amoui
Hassan Asadi Zeidabadi
Mohsen Aminzadeh
Emad Bahavar
Ghorban Behzadiyan Nejad
Mohammad Davari
Khosro Dalirsani
Feyzollah Arabsorkhi
Abolfazl Ghadyani
Mehdi Karimiyan Eghbal
Mohammad Reza Moghiseh
Abdollah Momeni

Explanation by Kaleme: Mr. Mozafari continued his hunger strike after being granted furlough from prison. However because all telephone calls to Evin’s ward 350 were banned, the hunger strikers were not aware of this fact.

Source; Kaleme:  http://www.kaleme.com/1390/04/06/klm-63258/