By Mike Talavera
Over the weekend, a march was carried out in the city of Nantes in France demanding the release of Comrade Théo and other political prisoners.
Comrade Théo has been on hunger strike for over a month and released a second letter which is translated below (you can read the first letter here):
Comrades,
It has now been a month since I’ve been in prison. My morale is good. I’m still in the midst of a hunger strike. I thank you for the support you have given me lately.
Time passes slowly. There is nothing to do here. As my political books are censored, my time is occupied by the mail I receive. We are two to a cell, and it’s going well but I have made several requests to be in solitary; being dazed in front of the television day and night does not suit me. On top of that it is difficult to concentrate in order to write, with Hanouna and his group who blabber their bullshit all day long.
Since I’ve been on hunger strike, the penitentiary administration has not treated me well. They are trying to make me pay for my strike with little things. The latest was their refusal to give me my coffee (the only thing I consume). The men in charge are truly bastards with everyone. They do everything to make people lose it: refusal of food for no reason, withholding mail, delaying money deposits… Everything is done so that the detained keep their heads down and become divided. It is a tactic to maintain order in their prison.
Today, I saw my lawyer. I hadn’t been able to contact him until very recently because all of the letters containing the contact information for lawyers had been withheld. They all arrived at once, being several weeks late. The lawyer told me that I would not be able to appeal and that I should file to withdraw my appeal so that I can request a reduced sentence, but this takes time, and I could not with certainty reduce the penalty before this is over. If I maintain my appeal, there is no chance of it ending favorably. In fact, besides taking my money, this lawyer is useless!
I am not surprised by this situation. When one is a proletarian, appearing before a judge, one is already condemned. The situation would certainly be different if I was a student and son of a bourgeois with a good French name, and not a communist worker with an Arab name. In this moment, I have no idea when I will leave prison, and I don’t know what the state will invent to keep me for the longest amount of time possible in prison.
I see the struggle as the only way out.
Liberty for all political prisoners!
Dare to struggle! Dare to win!
Théo El Ghozzi
Prisoner #69139
Incendiary 