On 23 April, after officials at Gohardasht prison made a written commitment to transfer him to a wing reserved for political prisoners, jailed Iranian trade unionist Shahrokh Zamani ended his hunger strike after 47 days.
During the hunger strike, Workers’ Liberty, our Iranian Revolutionary Marxists’ Tendency comrades, and others supporting the campaign stepped up the pressure for Shahrokh’s release.
Hundreds of new people signed the petition, including many activists at the UK National Union of Teachers and National Union of Students conferences. Dozens of student union officers, including a majority of NUS national executive, signed a statement which is being sent to the Guardian as a letter for May Day.
We are working on a statement from labour movement leaders, which so far has been signed by people including Len McCluskey of Unite, RMT President Peter Pinkney and Katy Clark MP; planning a protest in London; and exploring various other avenues to step things up.
Although Shahrokh’s hunger strike has ended, the campaign for his release — and for the release of all labour movement prisoners in Iran — continues.
