News Center-Iranian human rights activist Bahareh Hedayat, who has behind bars in Evin prison since October 3, 2022, started a hunger strike on September 31 to protest the death of Javad Rouhi under suspicious circumstances in prison and to condemn the accusations against Iranian journalists Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi. On the 13th day of her hunger strike, she was hospitalized due to her deteriorating health condition. After an hour at the hospital, she was sent back to Evin prison.

 Female political prisoners in Evin prison have written a letter to Bahareh Hedayat. In the letter, they called on Bahareh Hedayat to end her hunger strike to “realize our dreams of freedom and equality in Iran together.”

The letter is a follows:

“Bahareh Hedayat, we ask you to end your hunger strike so that we can realize our dreams together. We have been passing through an era where the truth is turned upside down and the values that determine politics have collapsed. In such a period, for someone who has been making efforts for the freedom of everyone and of Iran, there may be no choice than sacrificing her life to warn that what is being stolen is the life of a human being and the existence and future of a country. Bahareh Hedayat has been on a hunger strike for days in protest against the ‘deprivation of conscience’ that takes lives while we, as political prisoners held in Evin prison, witness the suffering and tension faced by women.

“We, as a group of your comrades, declare that we cannot bear that you risk your life and health anymore. On the behalf of the mother and father of Javad Rouhi, we ask you to end your hunger strike so that we can realize our dreams of freedom and equality in Iran together.”

Signatures:

Elaheh Mohammadi, Sepideh Kashani, Sepideh Keshavarz, Sepideh Qolian, Sarvnaz Ahmadi, Shakila Monfared, Zahra Tohidi, Fariba Kamalabadi, Faezeh Hashemi, Horiya Ziaei, Golrokh Iraee, Nasrin Javadi, Nahid Taghavi, Niloufar Bayani, Niloufar Hamedi, Narges Mohammadi, Mahosh Thabit, Mahosh Adalati, Mahboubeh Rezaei, Vida Rabbani and Hoda Tohidi.