Following widespread protests and a hunger strike by death-row prisoners in Qezel Hesar Prison, a group of female political prisoners held in Tehran’s Evin Prison have issued a statement declaring their support for the movement and calling for the nationwide abolition of the death penalty.
In their statement, released recently from the ward of female political prisoners in Evin, the prisoners emphasize that “the spread of poverty, corruption, and inequality not only fuels crime, but also serves as a pretext for the regime to perpetuate the cycle of executions and social repression.”
The statement continues: “A hand stretched out to feed oneself or one’s child is sent to the guillotine, and a head that rises in protest against hunger and destitution is put to the noose… Instead of acknowledging its political and economic bankruptcy, the system seeks to justify executions by manipulating public sentiment.”
The prisoners further argue that “crimes such as murder, theft, or drug-related offenses, those most commonly punished by death, are direct consequences of the regime’s economic and social policies. Public resistance to these policies reflects the growing political maturity of the public opinion in Iranian society.”
Citing the protest of more than a thousand inmates in Qezel Hesar, the statement describes the movement as “a turning point in the Iranian people’s struggle against repression and the death penalty,” affirming solidarity with the prisoners:
“The women’s ward of Evin honors the courage of the Qezel Hesar inmates and stands with those sentenced to death and their families until the complete abolition of capital punishment.”
The statement concludes: “As the prisoners of Qezel Hesar have urged, we hope that opposition to executions becomes a national and collective cause.”