The letter is from 72 political prisoners who were arrested in the November 2019 uprising. These prisoners have gone on a hunger strike because of they have been denied leave during the escalation of the coronavirus epidemic.

We went on hunger strike starting today. This strike is to protest the violation of the rights of political prisoners and the insistence on confining people seeking justice in deplorable health conditions and in a remote prison which lacks the necessary standards to hold human beings. The main point is that none of us are guilty and it is our right to protest.

The guilty ones are those who cause rising prices and catastrophic economic situations. We demanded our rights and the people’s rights. We demanded life and condemned gradual death in exile where there are no basic facilities for human life.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, health conditions in the prison are more dangerous than before. Due to the fact that the prison is overcrowded, prisoners are not able to practice social distancing. For this reason, the lives of thousands of prisoners are in danger.

In spite of an agreement by high-level court officials to grant temporary release, Amin Vaziri, a representative of the prosecutor, and the prosecutor supervising political prisoners have opposed this emergency leave, which can save our lives. Putting it bluntly, this is their response to our parents who ask why have you imprisoned our breadwinners. You are saying we should go die of hunger.

That is why we go on hunger strike, to show we prefer this kind of death to dying at the hands of a virus that resembles a corrupt and ruthless system.