A good way to support political prisoners is to write them a letter. Writing a letter in solidarity is not complicated. You don’t have to write a long letter, nor do you have to know the person you are writing to. There are however some things that are important to think about, when you writing a letter to a political prisoner.
- Don’t write anything incriminating, or about the person’s case. Your letter could be monitored by the guards, or even scanned/recorded.
- In your first letter you can write a little introduction of yourself, and maybe tell how you first heard about the prisoner. You can write about stories or books you’ve read, hikes or walks you’ve had, hobbies, silly jokes, news, stories from outside the prison, so that the memories of the outside world doesn’t fade away, and their mind can escape the bars and concrete. Ensure to talk about your ability or intentions to stay in correspondence.
- Include a name and return address, both at the back of your letter, and the envelope. You don’t necessarily have to put your own legal name as recipient. If you ask your local ABC group, infoshop, or some radical space, they might have it so that you can put their address as the sender to receive mail.
- Check what rules the prison have regarding mail to the prisoners. Can the prisoner receive photos, news-clippings, newspapers, money, or stamps? Can you write with coloured pencils? If the prisoner has a support crew, also check with them if there are certain things the prisoner needs, that you maybe can help with, like sending books.
SOLIDARITY IS OUR WEAPON. UNTIL ALL ARE FREE!
(Check the list of political prisoners at our web site, for more info and details about which prisoners you can write to)
image: NoBonzo
