Demonstration in memory of Ferhat Mayouf – 23 July 2026
Together with our comrades from Migrantifa Berlin, Death in Custody, KOP Berlin, Free Mumia Berlin and the Berlin Network for Freedom for All Political Prisoners, we as Rote Hilfe Berlin are calling for the upcoming demonstration in memory of Ferhat Mayouf. We are sharing the joint call here.
auf deutsch Seite 1 / in english page 2 / en français page 3
In memory of Ferhat Mayouf
Solidarity instead of state violence
Abolish all prisons!
On the 23rd of July 2020, Ferhat Mayouf died of smoke inhalation at Moabit Prison at the age of 36. For us, there is no doubt: this was murder! Murder committed by this state and its racist institutions.
Ferhat was arrested on a trivial theft charge. Because he had no fixed abode, he was taken into custody. There, he was locked in his cell for 23 hours a day. His pleas for medical and psychological care were ignored. Instead, he was subjected to humiliation and violence. On the evening of 23 July, a fire broke out in his cell. Ferhat screamed for help. Instead of quickly opening the door and getting him out, the guards waited for the fire brigade to arrive, even though they could have helped. For 27 minutes, he was left at the mercy of the fire in his locked cell. 27 minutes that cost Ferhat his life.
Systemic violence:
It is primarily people affected by poverty, racism, deportations, homelessness, traumatic life stories and mental health crises who end up in prison. But also those who have travelled on public transport without a ticket or who are barely scraping by with informal jobs or petty crime. The very existence of these people is criminalised. To this end, the state employs various means, such as using residency laws to render people illegal, or deploying the police to drive poor, racialised people, homeless people and drug users out of public spaces.
Death instead of the prospect of life:
The fact that Moabit Prison received a Suicide Prevention Award in 2025 is, to us, a complete mockery. Prisons lock people away for years. People who are exploited, who receive little to no medical care and inadequate food, who are separated from their loved ones, with no prospects for the future. Added to this is the fact that prison is a system that fosters abuse of power and violence. Through the lack of an outside perspective. Through the enormous dependence created for prisoners on staff, social workers, management and others. And also through the lack of, and resistance to, investigation into torture and death.
They deprived Ferhat Mayouf of his freedom and then let him die against his will. That was murder!
Murder, because people are systematically pushed to death by the prison system. At the same time, the suicide narrative is a favourite tool of the justice system to deny any responsibility or even active complicity in the deaths of prisoners.
More solidarity:
We want a different future and a different way of living together. And in saying this, we are also thinking of all those who are organising and standing up for a different society. Comrades from the anti-fascist, Palestine solidarity, Kurdish, climate and anti-war movements are being mercilessly hunted down by the state security services, dragged before the courts and imprisoned. We must not allow ourselves to be divided by the criminalisation of a few activists – this affects us all. The ruling class can build as many prisons and deploy as many police officers as they like. We will not let them take away our future or our right to demonstrate and resist.
On the sixth anniversary, we are taking to the streets once again to commemorate Ferhat Mayouf and to protest against the conditions that led to his death. We will show the prisoners that they are not alone. We will not allow Ferhat’s death and the violence within the prison to be forgotten.
Join us on the streets: on 23 July 2025 at 6 pm at Turmstraße underground station!
No forgiveness, no forgetting
You can find more details about Ferhat Mayouf, further information and a brochure here (most of it is in German): https://berlin.rote-hilfe.de/2024/07/01/broschuere-zu-ferhat-mayouf/
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