Zartosht Ahmadi Raghb Begins Hunger Strike in Evin Prison

Zartosht Ahmadi Raghb, a political prisoner held in Evin and a firefighter who has been unemployed for five years due to the intervention of security agencies, announced the start of his hunger strike in a message. In this audio message published on Sunday, April 29, on the Telegram channel of Yashar Tabrizi, Ahmadi Raghb expressed solidarity with the family of Sadiqeh Torani, the mother of Farhad Majdam, one of the victims of the November 2019 protests, and also declared his support for 'hardworking workers.' He stated that he began his hunger strike in protest against being forced to wear prison clothes during his transfer to the Revolutionary Court and in objection to his 'illegal' detention and sentence. Sadiqeh Torani was killed in a car accident on Saturday, April 28, which was described as 'suspicious' in social media reports. She was traveling with several other families seeking justice to attend the court hearing of Manoochehr Bakhtiari, the father of Pouya Bakhtiari, another victim of the November 2019 protests. Additionally, Saeed Afkari, the brother of Navid Afkari, tweeted that while the families of Vahid Damour and Farhad Majdam were heading to Qazvin to attend the court hearing, they saw a 'car with tinted windows' several times on the road that was monitoring them. Shortly after, that same car 'swerved in front of the Damour family's car, causing them to veer off the road.' On the same Sunday, just hours before Ahmadi Raghb's message and his announcement of solidarity with workers on the occasion of International Workers' Day, 15 labor and guild organizations issued a joint statement declaring that the 'revolutionary movement of the Iranian people' is still 'alive and dynamic,' and the Islamic Republic is 'neither worthy of survival' nor 'capable of continuing to exist.' Furthermore, on that Sunday, Mahmoud Sedighi-Pour, Anoush Adeli, and Aziz Qasemzadeh, three imprisoned teachers, issued a statement from Lakan Prison in Rasht, which was also sent to 'Voice of America,' declaring that these days are 'symbolic days' for 'unity and solidarity' among workers and teachers and 'insisting on current demands.' Meanwhile, on Sunday, April 29, leading up to International Workers' Day and Teacher's Day on May 1 and 2, various cities in Iran witnessed an increase in strikes and protests by employed and retired workers from various sectors.