Hamideh Zeraei, Political Prisoner, Goes on Dry Hunger Strike in Lakan Prison, Rasht

Hamideh Zeraei, an exiled protester in Rasht, has gone on a dry hunger strike in protest of her "illegal detention and the violence she experienced during her arrest." This former political prisoner was transferred to Lakan Prison in Rasht on Wednesday, June 6, due to her refusal to comply with mandatory hijab laws. She began her hunger strike on Saturday, June 9, and has stated that she will continue until she is released, abstaining from eating and drinking. Zeraei has been in Rasht since March of last year to serve a two-year exile. After refusing to wear a chador at the local police station where she was required to report weekly, she was summoned by the court. She was required to report to the Golshar police station every three days. Zeraei was arrested at her home in Karaj in June 2023 and sentenced in November of the same year to one year in prison, two years of exile to Rasht, two years of travel ban, and two years of prohibition from social media for "propaganda against the regime." Her prison sentence was reduced to nine months after she submitted to the ruling. During the nationwide "Women, Life, Freedom" protests on November 3, 2022, she was arrested at the memorial for Hadith Najafi, one of the victims of these protests, and imprisoned in Kachoui Prison in Karaj. She was eventually released following a government amnesty in February of the following year. Many civil and political activists in Iran have faced prison sentences, exile, and bans on social media activities due to security-related charges. Zeraei recorded a video before her arrest, reporting contact from the IRGC intelligence agents.