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"My client's life is in danger," writes Meysami's lawyer
Photo:
Mohammad Moghimi / REUTERS
Images of an Iranian activist who appears to be on a hunger strike have sparked widespread concern.
Photos of the activist Farhad Meysami, who has been in prison since 2018, were recently posted on social media.
The well-known 53-year-old can be seen with a shaved head and completely emaciated.
It is unclear who took the photos and how exactly they became public.
Meysami has been in prison for more than four years.
The judiciary accuses him of violating “national security”.
The well-known activist had already gone on a hunger strike in 2018.
Since the outbreak of the most recent protests in autumn 2022, the man in the Gohardasht prison in Karaj near the capital Tehran has refused.
According to media reports, Meysami is calling for an end to the executions of demonstrators, the release of political prisoners and the end of the strict Islamic dress code.
Prominent politicians and intellectuals are calling for Meysami's release.
The Iranian political scientist Abbas Abdi made an appeal for this on Twitter.
Human rights activist Hossein Ronaghi, who was recently imprisoned himself and was released on bail, wrote that Meysami does not deserve to be in prison.
His situation was "painful," wrote Ronaghi on Twitter.
"Responsibility for his life lies with the Islamic Republic."
Perhaps a way out lies in "creative and non-violent actions," tweeted lawyer Mohammad Moghimi.
A month ago he pointed out Meysami's worrying condition and wrote: »My client Farhad Meysami's life is in danger.
He went on a hunger strike to protest the government's recent killings on the streets.' Meysami has lost 52 kilos.
Iranian authorities contradicted the reports on Friday.
Meysami's weight loss was explained by the judiciary as an intestinal disease, as reported by the Misan news portal.
He is said to have interrupted his hunger strike and received medical attention.
The information could not be checked independently.
Regime releases photo with food packages
The semi-state news agency Young Journalists Club released a supposedly new photo of Meysamis, in which he looks less emaciated – coincidentally with food packages next to him, as evidence of his improved condition.
According to Reuters, activists announced on Thursday that Iranian film director Jafar Panahi had started a hunger strike in prison to protest the authorities' refusal to release him on bail pending a retrial.
Panahi was arrested in July and is expected to serve a sentence originally imposed by a Tehran court in 2010 amid an intensified crackdown on dissent.
Sol/dpa/Reuters
