Political prisoners express solidarity with Iranian workers

A group of Iranian political prisoners announced that on May 1, on the occasion of International Worker’s Day followed by National Teacher’s Day they will go on a hunger strike to express their solidarity with Iranian workers and teachers.

Jaras website published the announcement on its website saying: “The current ruling class is approaching Worker’s Day in a situation where due to its inappropriate, inefficient and oppressive policies, the lower classes have been subjected to more and more economic pressures.”

Last week a group of political prisoners of section 350 of Evin Prison announced that they have started a “political strike” to protest the dire situation of prisons, interrogation procedures and issuance of unfair sentences.

They announced that they will continue increasing the days of their weekly hunger strikes up to the anniversary of the controversial presidential election on June 12.

The signatories of the announcement write: “While the majority of the people are under the poverty line, the country's wealth is being spent on oppressive and war-seeking policies as well as international bribes to buy votes in the United Nations.”

They condemn the government’s systematic attempt to impoverish the lower classes and to alienate them from social movements through government handouts. “Under such conditions,” the prisoners write; “speaking of workers rights is just as ridiculous as talking about human rights in Iranian prisons.”

In the past year, thousands of political dissidents have been arrested and many of them have been handed heavy prison terms in order to quell the protests against the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Reportedly a number of labour organizations aligned with the Green Movement are planning to gather in front of the Ministry of Labour on May Day.