Letter from Gregory Koger to Revolution Newspaper
August 25, 2013 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
The following is a statement from revolutionary Gregory Koger, who was sent back to Cook County jail on July 23 as the continuation of the vicious political prosecution he and his lawyers, defense committee, and friends have been fighting for almost four years. At the jail, where he began a hunger strike in solidarity with the hunger strike of prisoners in California, he faced retaliation for this action and for his political views. This retaliation has taken the form of being repeatedly sent to the psychiatric ward for "evaluation" and being moved from a minimum security dorm-type situation to a maximum security cell, for a conviction on nonviolent misdemeanors. An emergency protest against this retaliation was held at the jail on July 29, and his defense committee is circulating a petition for his release on electronic monitoring.
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Gregory Koger
In solidarity with the heroic hunger strike begun by 30,000 prisoners on July 8, I have spent the last two weeks in Cook County jail on hunger strike.
I hope my stand has contributed to the struggle for the 5 core demands and an end to the torture committed by the United States government—domestically and abroad. My heart was also with the prisoners in Guantánamo on hunger strike.
For the duration of my time as a political prisoner here, I must devote my energies to the broader revolutionary work that my life is dedicated to.
A system that systematically tortures tens of thousands of people and incarcerates more people than any other country in the history of the planet is completely worthless and we must build a movement to end these injustices and bring into being a radically more liberatory world. I believe this will take revolution, nothing less—and I urge everyone to get with the movement for revolution and to check out the new synthesis of communism brought forward by Bob Avakian, Chairman of the RCP.
Gregory Koger
Aug. 6, 2013
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