Support for Saeed Shirzad's Hunger Strike; Ali Shirazati's Family's Condition for Ending His Hunger Strike

Several prisoners in Rajai-Shahr prison in Karaj issued a statement on Wednesday, January 5, expressing their support for Saeed Shirzad's hunger strike and describing his demands as "professional, legitimate, and legal." Meanwhile, the family of Ali Shirazati, another hunger striker, announced that he would end his hunger strike if their request for "medical leave until a fair retrial through legal channels" is granted. According to the news website Zeytoon, 14 prisoners in Rajai-Shahr prison emphasized their support for Saeed Shirzad's hunger strike, stating that over the past six years, they have presented their "professional demands through numerous letters and negotiations" with the "prison management, the prison organization, and the Tehran prosecutor's office," but these demands have remained "unanswered." In their letter, these prisoners referred to some of their demands, including "standardizing the housing conditions for prisoners, access to phones, facilitating educational opportunities, providing cultural facilities, and improving medical conditions." The signatories of this letter include Shahin Aghdam, Farid Azmoudeh, Behzad Tarhami, Saeed Pourheidar, Khaled Hardani, Latif Hosseini, Vahid Tizfahm, Payam Markazi, Saeed Masouri, Saeed Rezaei, Keyvan Rahimian, Jaber Abedini, and Ebrahim Firoozi. Saeed Shirzad, a civil activist, has been on hunger strike since December 8 in protest against the "silent death of prisoners" and has sewn his lips shut in protest, citing numerous violations of prisoners' rights. This political prisoner is demanding "the right to use the phone for political prisoners like other prisoners, immediate attention to the status of sick prisoners, the separation of cancer-causing devices and jammers that disrupt mobile signals, and the removal of steel shelves behind cell windows that hinder proper ventilation." He previously stated in response to requests to end his hunger strike that he would continue it for 30 days and would then decide whether to end it or convert it to a dry hunger strike, depending on whether the "voices of the voiceless" are heard. Saeed Shirzad, a member of the Society for the Defense of Working Children and Street Children, was arrested on June 7, 2014, and sentenced to five years in prison by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati, on charges of "gathering and colluding with the intent to act against national security." A wave of hunger strikes by political and ideological prisoners in Iran has recently gained widespread attention on social media worldwide in protest against the sentences issued against them. Previously, user reactions on Twitter to Arash Sadeghi's hunger strike led to his wife's release and arrangements for his transfer to the hospital. On Wednesday, the hashtag calling for Ali Shirazati's release (#sosAli) trended globally on Twitter. Ali Shirazati was sentenced for participating in a gathering in front of the parliament protesting acid attacks in Isfahan, charged with "acting against national security," and announced on November 1 that he would continue his hunger strike until this charge is removed from his case. Meanwhile, Ali Shirazati's family, referring to requests to end his hunger strike, stated that their request for his medical leave is "until a fair retrial through the legal channels provided." According to the Kalemeh website, Mr. Shirazati's family announced that if this request is granted, he will end his hunger strike. In recent weeks, reports have emerged of hunger strikes by several other prisoners, including Nizar Zaka, Hassan Rostgari Majd, Mohammad Reza Nokounam, and Mehdi Kouhian. Reports indicate that Hassan Rostgari Moghadam has ended his hunger strike, but no updates have been published regarding the status of other political prisoners. In recent years, many political prisoners in Iran have gone on hunger strikes, and several, including Hadi Saber and Akbar Mohammadi, have died due to lack of medical attention during their hunger strikes.