After Two Months of Wet Hunger Strike, Hengameh Shahidi Begins Dry Hunger Strike

The family of Hengameh Shahidi reports that this imprisoned journalist has started her dry hunger strike on Wednesday, May 10, after approximately two months of wet hunger strike. In a dry hunger strike, unlike a wet hunger strike, the individual refrains from consuming liquids as well. Ms. Shahidi is protesting her detention and the handling of her case, which is why she has gone on hunger strike. According to her family, the journalist suffers from heart and kidney issues, making the hunger strike 'dangerous' for her. Hengameh Shahidi was arrested by security forces on March 9, 2017, and transferred to Evin Prison, but the reason for her arrest or the charges against her have not been disclosed so far. Following her arrest, a letter from her addressed to Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, was published on news sites and social media, dated prior to her arrest. In that letter, the journalist stated to the Iranian President: 'For the first time during your presidency, a joint project by the IRGC Intelligence Organization and the Ministry of Intelligence was able to take shape, and these two agencies carried out widespread arrests of innocent journalists and political and civil activists, who are the subject of every election's wedding and mourning, and you preferred silence.' Besides Hengameh Shahidi, several other civil and social activists are currently on hunger strike in Iranian prisons. Atena Shahidi, a children's rights activist, and Ismail Abdi, a teacher's union activist, are among these prisoners who have gone on hunger strike in protest of their situation and that of their friends. In recent weeks, several human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, condemned these arrests and called for the immediate release of imprisoned journalists and civil activists in Iran. In this context, Amnesty International expressed concern for Atena Daemi's health following her 31-day hunger strike. Reza Pahlavi described the Iranian elections as 'a new distance from a long-standing fraud.'