Five South Azerbaijani politicians, imprisoned for establishing a political party advocating their identity rights, are continuing a hunger strike — which has already turned critical for their health — that they started in an effort to have their voices heard on the international scene due to the failure of Iran’s state-controlled media to report on their situation
The logo of New Southern Azerbaijan National Awakening Movement
The Tabriz Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced five South Azerbaijani activists — Latif Hassani (43), Mahmoud Fazli (45), Shahram Radmehr (38), Ayat Mehr Ali Bayglu (35) and Behboud Gholi Zade (48) — to nine years in prison in May [2013] on the charge of forming an illegal group, the New Southern Azerbaijan National Awakening Movement Party (Yeni GAMOH), and distributing anti-government propaganda.
The political activists have been on a hunger strike in the central prison in Tabriz since July 13 [2013] in protest of the sentence handed down against them. Relatives of the victims have confirmed that some of the activists have already been hospitalized because of the strike. According to the latest update from the prisoners’ families on Sunday, visitations have been banned and the prisoners were transported on the eighth day of their hunger strike to a prison in Tehran without informing their families.
The leading Members of New GAMOH held in Tehran`s Rejayishehr Prison
The imprisoned activists confirm that they will continue to strike until their prison sentence is cancelled, which they say the court decided under the pressure of the Iranian intelligence community.
“Because of the Iranian media boycott on publishing news on Azerbaijani patriots, this [hunger strike] is an opportunity for us to make our voices heard internationally. This is just a stage in our struggle,” stated Duman Radmehr, brother of prisoner Shahram Radmehr.
Tabriz intelligence and the Tabriz prosecutor’s office had demanded the most severe punishment for the prisoners, and it was given by the court. The prisoners were detained during a series of arrests that began in December last year [2012] in Iran, and they were sent to the central prison in Tabriz.
Yeni GAMOH is an offshoot of GAMOH, an old party in Iran whose members are currently in exile, as their party is illegal in the country. The five imprisoned activists were on the administrative board of the new party, under the chairmanship of Hassani.
Amnesty International issued a report on June 12 [2013] expressing worry for the situation of imprisoned activists in Iran, including those five from Yeni GAMOH.
Families of the prisoners have confirmed that the five activists were in solitary confinement and that they were tortured physically and mentally by Iranian intelligence officers before being sent to prison in March [2013]. Included in the unlawful treatment of the detainees were long periods of interrogation, severe beatings and days of solitary confinement. They were only permitted to get a lawyer almost five months after their detention and just one week before the court hearing, the families also said.
All of Southern Azerbaijani political groups had to organize outside the country because the Azerbaijani population is not a “recognized minority” in the country.
