Farhad Meysami, a physician and human rights activist, began a dry hunger strike Sept. 8 to protest his imprisonment on the charge of spreading “propaganda against the establishment.” Meysami was arrested in July for possession and distribution of a badge stating his opposition to the compulsory hijab and for expressing solidarity with the protests against mandatory veiling earlier this year, which resulted in the arrests of 29 women.
While Meysami’s hunger strike, which began as a wet hunger strike July 31, is notable for its longevity and resonance among women’s rights activists in Iran, it is only one of a string of such actions undertaken by political prisoners and human rights campaigners since the May 2017 presidential election. Last summer, 17 opposition activists in Rajai Shahr prison participated in hunger strikes against living conditions in detention facilities. In late August, Kurdish dissident Ramin Hossein Panahi initiated a hunger strike in prison for being convicted of “acting against national security.” (Panahi was executed Sept. 8.)
