Hangameh Shahidi Released from Prison After Six Months of Solitary Confinement

The defense attorney of Hangameh Shahidi, a journalist who went on a hunger strike in protest of her detention, announced on Tuesday, September 7, that she has been released from Evin Prison. According to ISNA news agency, Mostafa Torkhamdani stated that Ms. Shahidi was freed from Evin Prison this afternoon. The report notes that Shahidi's lawyer declined to explain the amount of bail set for her release. In a photo shared on her Instagram after her release, Ms. Shahidi appears very emaciated. The post states that she was "released from Evin Prison today at 6 PM after six months of temporary detention in solitary confinement and 15 days of hunger strike (8 days of dry hunger strike and 7 days of wet hunger strike)." She added that "she began her hunger strike at the beginning of her detention by the Ministry of Intelligence in Mashhad" and "continued this strike for 110 days until Eid al-Fitr, which resulted in physical injuries (heart issues, kidney-bladder infections, and intestinal problems)." Ms. Shahidi mentioned that "she was held for one month in Detention Center 209 and was then transferred to the Intelligence Protection of the Judiciary." Hangameh Shahidi, a member of the National Trust Party, advisor to Mehdi Karroubi on women's issues during the 2009 elections, and a journalist, had been detained for six months on unspecified charges. Despite having a history of heart disease and kidney issues, she was held in solitary confinement during this time, and her family had expressed serious concerns about her condition. Shahidi's daughter reported on Twitter on August 31 that her mother had begun a dry hunger strike a week prior. It was previously reported that Shahidi's hunger strike was in protest of "indecision and the lack of accountability from judicial officials." Ms. Shahidi was released amid reports of hunger strikes by several political prisoners in Evin and Rajai Shahr prisons, while the Tehran prosecutor announced that the judiciary would not "surrender" to the hunger strikes of prisoners, stating that "these actions are a failure." Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said on September 1: "The judiciary will not yield to these matters. The punishment of prisoners must be fully enforced, and we will not be influenced by some actions of prisoners, including hunger strikes." Reza Moieni, head of the Iran desk at Reporters Without Borders, reacted to the recent arrests of several journalists in Iran, stating that these detentions indicate the beginning of a new wave of repression against journalists in Iran. Reports from Tehran indicate that Yaghma Fashakhami, a journalist, was arrested on the evening of August 30. A week prior, Sasan Aghaei, the deputy editor of the newspaper Etemad, had also been arrested. ILNA news agency reported that no official has yet provided an explanation regarding the reasons for the arrests of these two reformist journalists.