Iranian political prisoner Golrokh Iraee has exposed the regime’s strategies to regain legitimacy in a letter sent from Evin Prison on Friday, May 5.
In the letter, she refers to the regime’s amnesty theatrics in February and states, “Forcing people to express regret does not restore the lost legitimacy.” Iraee highlights the dire state of society, with rampant poverty, unemployment, and human rights abuses.
She questions, “What should we regret if we are punished and killed for our basic rights and lifestyle, relationships, clothing, eating, and drinking?” She further elaborates on the lack of an independent judiciary in Iran, claiming that it is controlled by a reactionary autocracy.
Describing her own arrest and mistreatment, Iraee recounts, “On September 26, 2022, about a week after Mahsa Amini was killed and four months after my release, the security police attacked my house, breaking the door. Eleven armed agents attacked me and kicked me, arresting me while beating and offending me.” Following her arrest, she was subjected to further abuse, including being stripped naked and physically searched by police officers.
Iraee also addresses the regime’s efforts to force people into expressing remorse or adjusting their stance against the government.
She states, “Now that the Islamic Republic is forced to change course to build up an international image, it pretends that it adheres to the covenants it has accepted. So, the policy today dictates that they push people to remorse or compulsory adjustment of their stands against them behind a mask of kindness and compassion.”
“In Qarchak prison and after the recent revolutionary uprising, many detainees who took to the streets knowingly and with specific demands were forced to change their position and deny themselves due to the pressure of the security forces,” she writes.
Calling out those responsible for the suffering of the Iranian people, Iraee declares, “The one who has his hand in state murders or issues death sentences and takes people to the gallows, the one who suppresses the people who protest for a better life and kills or maims them under beating must be ashamed and remorse if there is an honour left for him.”
Iraee accuses Qarchak Prison authorities of conspiring against political prisoners and forcing detainees to change their position and deny themselves due to the pressure of the security forces.
Iraee concludes her letter with a warning for those who fail to learn from history and heed the revolutionary uprising of the people, stating that regret will be the share of those who do not see the fate of previous dictators.
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