Inspiring Statements by Heroic Prisoners
In the face of the recent surge of executions as well as the “slow” execution of prisoners by medical neglect3, we want to share the statements of two prisoners who show great principle and courage in the face of death sentences. Their defiance of injustice, against oppression and repression, is something that people in the U.S., and the world, can learn from and emulate in the face of the grave dangers of fascism being consolidated and the urgent need for people to step up to the challenge of defeating it.
Political Prisoner Pakhshan Azizi’s Righteous Response to the U.S. State Department’s Phony “Statement of Support
Pakhshan Azizi is in imminent danger of execution solely for her nonviolent social work in Syrian refugee camps. On September 30, the U.S. State Department Farsi X account posted a photo of Pakhshan Azizi on which they plastered a U.S. flag and State Department seal, calling for Iran to revoke her death sentence and immediately release her. In response, she issued an audio statement, a brave and timely response, from Qarchak Women’s Prison, posted by @BurnTheCage and with English subtitles by @iranrevolution that said:
I, Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to death, reject the baseless accusations in my case and demand a review of the unjust death sentence. Regarding the statement of the U.S. State Department, which was apparently published in defense of my case:
I declare that if the U.S. government is truly committed to the principles of human rights, first it must stop its war-mongering, aggression, and crimes in the region, and end its open support for the genocide of the innocent people of Gaza, and end its years of sanctions that have led to relentless economic pressure on the oppressed and suffering people.
Only then we might believe that your government’s statements are issued from a stance of humanity and not otherwise. I am an ordinary person in this community, a social worker. My field of work is people-oriented. I am not concerned with governments or their political games, nor do I want to play such a role.
The people of the Middle East have been crushed under the economic and social pressure resulting from the flawed and destructive policies of the West led by the US, centuries of colonialism and exploitation, and by regional governments.
Wishing for peace and reconciliation, justice and true dignity for all human beings.
Political Prisoner Siamak Amini from Evin Prison: “I will stand against oppression, even if it costs me my life”
Siamak Amini witnessed the 1988 massacre of thousands of fellow political prisoners when he was imprisoned by the Islamic Republic from 1984 to 1989. He is now in Evin Prison serving a four-year sentence for social media messages of support for the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising in 2022. He has been repeatedly denied medical treatment for a painful autoimmune disease. We want to share and highlight his letter below, posted by @burnthecage on October 4, as it stands as a clarion call and a challenge to all political dissidents and justice-loving people in the oppressive world today. (Translation to English is by IEC volunteers)
His letter reads:
I do not want anything that is tainted with begging, not even life!
Greetings to the noble people of Iran:
I, Siamak Amini, a political prisoner of the 1980s, am writing to you from Evin Prison.
In a country where, according to official statistics, 40% of the population lives below the poverty line and millions cannot afford even bread; where 43,000 people die each year from absolute poverty; where every day the environment such as seas, forests, and jungles is being wiped off the map; where 2–3 million children are deprived of school at the start of the academic year; where government hospital walls are covered with ads for selling body part [organs]; where rusty, decrepit cars take the lives of my fellow citizens daily; where theft, discrimination, inequality, corruption, and looting are rampant: in such a society the people are suffering from hunger, thirst, and lack of electricity, clean water, and gas.
Anyone who speaks out against it and shouts slogans for freedom and equality is sent to prison, executed or tortured. My friends are being executed with their hands tied and the innocent women of my country are sentenced to death (Verishe Moradi, Pakhshan Azizi and Sharifeh Mohammadi). My friends and comrades were executed en masse and exiled, and their children, fathers, mothers are still grieving their loss, after more than thirty years. I will never write a plea for clemency or beg for mercy. Instead, I am honored to be on the list of those excluded from amnesty.
At a time when the Zahhak [mythical monster king] of our times has turned all of Iran into a prison, my release from this prison does not matter to me. Although I am sick and Article 10 of the amnesty directive for incurable diseases applies to me, I will remain with honor until the last day of my unjust sentence and fight for freedom — in memory of the Mahsa, the women and men of my country.
They have denied me treatment, but at a time when the people of my country die in hospital queues, I will fight like them. They forbid me from seeing my family in person, but I will endure, remembering all my compatriots who have been forced into exile and have lived for years separated from their families. I too will be a small drop in the ocean of resistance. I will not bow down to the tyrants; our resistance signals and stamps the oppressor's destruction.
In the name of Woman — Life — Freedom.
Greetings to the heroic people of Iran, in the hope of freedom for Iran and all its people.
Siamak Amini, Political Prisoner, Evin Prison