THE VOICE OF REVOLUTIONARY PRISONERS IN TURKEY WAS HEARD IN BARCELONA

On 24 January, a conference on political prisoners was held in Barcelona, the final city of the tour in Spain. This conference was jointly organised by Plataforma Antirepresiva (Anti-Repression Platform) and Samidoun.

There were four speakers at the conference:

• A representative of the Anti-Repression Platform spoke about the campaign they are running in Barcelona and Spanish state for the release of ‘sick prisoners’.
• A representative of Samidoun spoke about prisoners in the Great Britain (Palestine Action), Germany (the Ulm 5 prisoners) and Italy who were arrested for showing solidarity with the Palestinian people.

They also demanded the release of Ahmad Sa’adat, General Secretary of the PFLP.

• Francesca Nadin, a member of Palestine Action, which was declared a terrorist organisation, who was arrested for damaging Elbit factories producing Israeli military equipment in the GB, spoke.

She spoke on behalf of the group, now known as Prisoners 4 Palestine.

Three hunger strikes of the group imprisoned in London ended in victory. Among the demands met, perhaps the most important was the British government’s cancellation of a £2 billion deal with Elbit.

One prisoner from this group has been on hunger strike for 14 days. He has even announced that he has now stopped drinking water. Because of this, he could die very quickly. The prisoner, named Umer Khalid, is currently the only prisoner in London still on hunger strike to demand improvements in prison conditions, as he claims to be constantly harassed by the administration.

This is the first time in British history that political prisoners have gone on hunger strike.

• Then Şükriye Akar, representative of the Anti-Imperialist Front France and wife of a prisoner who achieved victory after 250 days of indefinite hunger strike, spoke.

Before the conference, Şükriye Akar visited Pablo Hassel, who is being held in Barcelona prison.

She began her speech to the audience in Catalan, saying:

“Hello everyone, first, I would like to express my condolences for those who lost their lives in the recent train accidents.

I visited Pablo Hassel today and I want to convey to you the spirit of resistance he carries.

I also send you the warmth, determination and greetings of the free prisoners in Turkey.”

She then addressed the crowd, which she learned numbered 130 people, saying:

“Thank you very much for coming, for your interest. It is exciting to speak in front of such a large crowd this evening. I hope I can meet your expectations.”

In her presentation, she spoke about the Pit-Type Prisons and the resistance that resulted in victories against them.

As she concluded her presentation, she had three requests for the audience:

Sükriye called on them to write letters to Tahsin Sağaltıcı, Gürkan Türkoğlu, Hüseyin Özen, and Doğan Karataş, who are currently on an indefinite hunger strike. A printout of their addresses was on the table.

She also asked them to sign the petition against Pit Type prisons on change.org. She pointed to a printout with a QR code for this purpose.

Finally, she concluded her presentation by calling on everyone to gather in front of a banner demanding that the demands of Tahsin Sağaltıcı and Gürkan Türkoğlu, who were on their 180th day of indefinite hunger strike, be met, and to take a group photo.

130 people attended the conference.