Election boycott; statement by eight political prisoners in Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj
17-February-2020
Category: Uncategorized
Breathing in Confinement – Eight political prisoners in Rajai Shahr prison in a statement condemned the Islamic Republic’s parliamentary elections.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news organ of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, eight political prisoners in Rajai Shahr prison releasing a statement on boycott of the forthcoming election, announced that “Participating in regime’s show election and voting to candidates of any bands or factions, be them reformist, moderate, fundamentalist, and so forth … is nothing but to ignore and endorse all the crimes and bloodshed of our sisters and brothers in the uprisings of December 2017 and November 2019, and verifying the persistence of poverty discrimination, corruption, depravity, inflation, high prices, and imprisonment, as well as suppression and promotion of gallows and executions and terrorism »
Here is the full text of the statement, a copy of which is received by Breathing in Confinement for publication:
Since the beginning, elections have been part of democracy, humankind’s intention to make the public participate in political decision-making and to share the power. And all of these are to make a fairer and better world … with constituents- the people who are noble and original, and an elected group who are only there to speak for people and to be their representatives as their lawyers. And of course, a people’s lawyer is supposed to exercise the word of people and their will … not the word of the supreme leader and the will of the government… There is a choice where there is no religious tyranny and where there is the tyranny of any kind, there will be no choice.
Rouhani himself frankly said that this is not an election, it is an appointment … But now he says, nevertheless, don’t be angry with the ballot boxes and show your participation in “election”, “national grandeur”, “national security” and “resisting against the enemies ” … and the only thing which is not important at all is the people’s demands and establishment of a popular sovereignty. They only want high participation rates to show to the world that they are supported by the people and are granted legitimacy by them… exactly what they later use against the Iranian people and hang them using the same rope. Surprisingly, they themselves know that this is not an election and they confess that it is just an appointment … why …? Because this time they have been a target. The elections however have always been the same and over the past 40 years, after any election, in the name of public participation, they have written everything in a way that they wanted to. And now after all these years, just because themselves are getting involved, those who have always been overwhelmed by their illusions and never have left their palaces to realize how difficult the situation of people is, are ordering people for active participation and not being angry with the Ballot boxes.
By the way, what boxes they mean? ‘The corrupted so-called Money Borrowing Boxes for looting and plundering people?’
Which people’s representatives have ever been able to be approved as a candidate except for the slaves of the supreme leader? Which of these government’s lawyers have ever defended the people and their demands? What have they done except being subservient to the government?
Didn’t they see the people’s blood on the ground in November? Those who had taken to the streets just to demand their rights? Didn’t they hear them? Who was the culprit for the killing of more than 1,500 Iranian citizens and youth? Who shot the people of Mahshahr, Ahvaz, Shahriar, Karaj, Shiraz, Kermanshah, Ghods County, Saveh, etc? Where did they take more than 10,000 prisoners and what happened to them? Why don’t they announce the number of martyrs in November? Which so-called parliamentarian pursued these highly important issues? and what was the outcome? Who defended the people who came out on the streets while they were suppressed and were called outsiders and disruptive? and what was the outcome? And…
Participating in regime’s show election and voting to candidates of any bands or factions, be them reformist, moderate, fundamentalist, and so forth … is nothing but to ignore and endorse all the crimes and bloodshed of our sisters and brothers in the uprisings of December 2017 and November 2019, and verifying the persistence of poverty discrimination, corruption, depravity, inflation, high prices, and imprisonment, as well as suppression and promotion of gallows and executions and terrorism. Therefore, we, a group of political prisoners in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, believe that no freedom seeker and conscientious Iranian will participate in this show election ignoring the bloodshed of people and endorsing horrible violation of their human rights.
1. Majid Asadi
2. Payam Shakiba
3.Saeed Masouri
4. Arash Sadeghi
5. Motalleb Ahmadin
6.Pirouz (Mohammad Ali) Mansouri
7. Mohammad Amirkhizi
8. Hassan Sadeghi