Shahrokh Zamani Killed in Iranian Dungeons

We are in deep sorrow to hear the unexpected news that Shahrokh Zamani, Iranian socialist trade-unionist, was killed on 13 September, in the Rajai Shahr prison of Iranian mullah regime. We are sending our condolences to his family and comrades and we condemn once more the Iranian mullah regime which is directly responsible for his death. We, UID-DER, have been part of the international campaigns to free Shahrokh and the other political prisoners for long. And comrade Shahrokh was sending his thanks on every occasion and expressing his support to our work in his messages.

Shahrokh Zamani had been sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment by the Iranian regime for his activities to build an independent union and was kept in Rajai Shahr prison. His prison mates found him dead when they tried to wake him up for midday exercise. Prison management announced that Shahrokh died of a stroke. His cell-mates say that he refused to wear the uniform that the guardians forced him to and was beaten heavily, receiving blows in the head and that they saw bruises in his body. They say that he had a brain hemorrhage because of this beating. Shahrokh’s murderer is the Iranian regime which has taken the lives of many other revolutionaries and which threatened him with death sentence should he not give up his political activities. Therefore his comrades raise the demand that his real cause of death must be determined by an independent autopsy by a reliable international team of experts.

Shahrokh, a member of the Committee of Rebuilding of the Painters’ Union, has been in prison since June 2011 as he waged a struggle to build independent unions and defended workers’ rights. He was persecuted physically and psychologically in prison, denied of health treatment and transferred to another prison where drug criminals are kept and which is notorious for its bad conditions. Last year he went on long hunger strikes twice and lost weight by 22 kilograms in 40 days. While he suffered from serious health problems he stopped the second hunger strike on its 50th day upon insisting requests by his family and friends. Iranian regime which exercised every kind of repression upon Shahrokh did not even let him attend his mother’s funeral.

Shahrokh Zamani was a revolutionary who dedicated his life to the cause of the emancipation of the working class and lost his life in this cause. He lived and died as an honourable revolutionary. His memory will live on in our struggle!

Down with the murderer mullah regime!

Free political prisoners in Iran!