On May 15, the People’s Democracy Party (PDP), the World Anti-imperialist Platform, and 21st Century Che Guevara held a political rally in front of the Kenyan Embassy under the slogan: “Victory to the Struggle for the Release of PDP President Lee Sang-hun and the World Anti-Imperialist Platform Delegation! Down with Imperialism and Fascism!”
The moderator stated:
“At around 8 a.m. on May 15, all members of the World Anti-imperialist Platform international delegation were released. Through the protest march against the ‘Africa-France Summit,’ the fascist nature of the Ruto regime in Kenya was exposed before the entire world. The world also witnessed the outrages committed by the Lee Jae-myung government, which abandoned its duty to protect its citizens abroad and instead shielded the Ruto fascist regime through the Yongsan Police Station. We will continue our struggle unwaveringly until the day imperialism and fascism are defeated across the world.”
A youth and student committee member of the PDP emphasized:
“Through the powerful struggle of comrades, we finally achieved victory. All members of the World Anti-Imperialist Platform delegation, including Lee Sang-hun, leader of 21st Century Che Guevara, who had been illegally arrested in Nairobi, Kenya, have been released. This was a brilliant victory won through a complete silence-and-hunger-strike struggle lasting more than 48 hours, resisting the attempts of judicial authorities to pressure and coerce them.”
The chair of the Anti-US and Anti-War Special Committee of the PDP declared:
“The brutality of Kenya’s Ruto fascist regime and the opportunism of the Lee Jae-myung government are united in their common role as servants of imperialism. It is no coincidence that French President Macron visited the ‘Republic of Korea (ROK),’ that Woo Won-shik, Speaker of the ‘ROK’ National Assembly, visited Kenya immediately after the ‘Africa-France Summit,’ and that during this same period our comrades were imprisoned. The repression carried out in Kenya against the World Anti-imperialist Platform and the repression imposed in the ‘ROK’ against the People’s Democratic Party are fundamentally one and the same.”
Next, a statement by Lee Sang-hun, former President of the PDP and member of the World Anti-imperialist Platform delegation who had been released, was read aloud.
Finally, participants sang “The Internationale.”
The following is the full statement by former PDP President Lee Sang-hun.
We were released thanks to the powerful solidarity of comrades.
We extend our gratitude to the comrades of the Communist Party Marxist Kenya, who are always devoted and action-oriented, and to the progressive activists in Kenya.
We also deeply thank the members and comrades of the World Anti-imperialist Platform across the world who stood in solidarity with us.
We send militant thanks as well to the comrades in the ‘Republic of Korea’ (South Korea, hereinafter the ‘ROK’) who carried out a 24-hour overnight struggle in front of the Kenyan Embassy.
Comrade Booker Omole, General Secretary of the Communist Party Marxist Kenya, despite being on trial himself, came to the police station and stood together with us in solidarity and struggle. While we were inside the police station, we heard the shocking news that police had fired guns toward Comrade Booker. We especially extend our gratitude and unwavering solidarity to Comrade Booker.
Through this experience, and through the 69 hours of detention, we came to understand even more deeply the political situation and social reality in Kenya.
The Ruto regime in Kenya is a typical fascist regime. The repression against political parties is decisive evidence of this, and it has once again been confirmed through the repression against our World Anti-Imperialist Platform.
As everyone knows, and as was shown in videos and news reports, our rally and demonstration were completely lawful and peaceful. There is no other country on Earth today that would indiscriminately fire tear gas at such a legal and peaceful assembly and then proceed to detain an international delegation. Furthermore, we were detained for more than 48 hours without warrants or trial. This too is a barbaric atrocity unthinkable in a civilized 21st-century society.
Most decisively, police threatened protesters by firing guns during a peaceful protest in front of the police station. All of these facts clearly prove that Kenya’s political situation and social reality are profoundly undemocratic and fascistic in essence.
By witnessing the repression, arrest, and illegal detention of the World Anti-Imperialist Platform delegation — and by witnessing the use of tear gas and threats of gunfire — people across the world have now clearly seen the fascist nature of the Ruto regime in Kenya. The Ruto regime has committed a grave mistake.
At the very moment we were detained in the police station, it was reported that Woo Won-shik, Speaker of the National Assembly of the ‘ROK,’ visited Kenya and held a summit-level meeting with Ruto. Following the “Africa-France Summit,” these consecutive meetings are by no means accidental.
Behind them are the ambitions of the ‘ROK’ capitalists seeking Kenya’s resources, as well as plans for military cooperation between the ‘ROK’ and Kenya, between Kenya and the ‘ROK.’ All of this is being orchestrated by U.S. imperialism. It is also connected to Macron, a ringleader of French imperialism, who recently visited the ‘ROK.’
In the 21st century, when the world is connected in real time, we have once again realized through this experience that Kenya and the ‘ROK’ are not separate realities.
Therefore, we must strengthen international solidarity even further. As capitalists, imperialists, and their fascist lackeys unite in order to repress and exploit us and our people, we too must unite.
We must go beyond ordinary Pan-Africanism. Not the kind of Pan-Africanism even Ruto dares to speak of, but revolutionary Pan-Africanism. We must advance revolutionary Pan-Africanism united with anti-imperialism — revolutionary Pan-Africanism united with internationalism.
We will stand at the forefront of that struggle. The People’s Democracy Party will stand at the forefront, and the World Anti-Imperialist Platform will stand at the forefront.
The people united will never be defeated. If we unite and struggle, we will surely win. The Kenyan people and the African people, united and fighting powerfully as one, will surely be victorious.
May 15, 2025, Nairobi
Lee Sanghun
Organizing Committee Member of the World Anti-imperialist Platform
