52 journalists, activists and prisoners from Behdinan and Sheladize announced going on a hunger strike in protest at denial of their conditional release in accordance with Article 331 of the Penal Code.
52 prisoners from Behdinan, jailed in the Hewler (Erbil) Prison in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq), wrote a letter to the UN, representatives of the states and public opinion regarding the violations they have been exposed to.
“Jailed in Hewler Prison, we, as 52 journalists, activists and prisoners from Behdinan and Sheladize, decided to go on a hunger strike demanding our conditional release in accordance with Article 331 of the Penal Code, which is a legal right but denied to us by the prosecutor,” said the letter.
The letter continued, “We are deprived of any human, legal and democratic right for all to see. We were sentenced because we demanded to be granted our rights and freedom of thought. Some of us have been sentenced for opposing the invasion and bombing of our country. The government, on the other hand, is now crying crocodile tears for the victims of the Turkish bombardment.”
The prisoners called for the rule of justice to be preserved and not sacrificed to the interests of any party or person.
