Farhad Meysami before and after his hunger strike. Image source: Twitter
Tehran: With each passing day the health of a long-time Iranian prisoner deteriorates as he continues his hunger strike for the freedom of women in Iran.
Pictures of a stunted Farhad Meysami have been making rounds on Twitter and along with them is a letter written to Rajaei-Shahr prison officials by Meysami.
Meysami lost an alarming amount of weight during his sentence and his photos show his bare body with an exposed ribcage.
Not budging from his demands, the political activist wrote “I will still insist on my three demands of stopping the execution of protesters, releasing six political prisoners, and stopping mandatory hijab.”
According to Iran Wire, Meysami’s letter is titled “For the days of suffering and suffering and suffering.”
The story of Farhad Meysami
A medical practitioner by profession, Meysami has been behind the bars since 2018 when he was convicted for speaking out against Iran’s mandatory hijab rule.
He was sentenced to six years in jail for “spreading propaganda against the system”, “gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security” and “insulting Islamic sanctities”.
In May last year, Meysami went on a hunger strike to protest against the possible execution of Ahmadreza Jalali, a Swedish-Iranian scientist who was taken hostage in 2016.
He eventually ended his hunger strike after 145 days. However, he fell seriously ill before he ended his strike.
In another letter written last year, Meysami said, “He (Ahmadreza Jalali) had been on hunger strike in protest to repeated threats of his execution and the effects of which on his body and soul were clearly visible.”
“Imagine subjecting a human being to this repeatedly. Not once, not twice… Is there any torture worse than this?” he asked.
He added, “I don’t want to just oppose Dr Djalali’s execution, I want to draw attention to something much more important, to draw attention to the fact that they send a man to his death many times and bring him back.”
Activists, journalists highlight Meysami’s condition
A number of prominent journalists and activists have spoken out against the brutal treatment of the Iranian judicial system to highlight the faltering condition of Meysami.
Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist and activist said on her Twitter, “To those who think Iran’s uprising is over and Iranians have given up, behold the enormous courage of political prisoner Farhad Meysami. He’s been on a 4-month hunger strikes against the execution of political prisoners & forced hejab. Iranians knows that history is one our side.”
Another journalist Omid Memarian said, “This is prominent rights defender Farhad Meysami, who has been on hunger strike against the executions & unjust arrests of activists & journalists. The images of fighting against injustice & tyranny. His life is in danger. Release him now!”
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