© Reuters. Imprisoned Iranian activist Farhad Meysami, who’s reported to have gone on a starvation strike, is seen at Rajai Shahr jail in Karaj, Iran, on this social media picture launched on February 2, 2023. Mohammad Moghimi/through REUTERS T
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(Reuters) -Social media pictures presupposed to be of an emaciated jailed Iranian doctor who went on starvation strike in assist of demonstrations in opposition to the obligatory sporting of the hijab have precipitated outrage and warnings that he dangers demise.
Farhad Meysami, 53, who has been in jail since 2018 for supporting girls activists protesting in opposition to the headband coverage, started his starvation strike on Oct. 7 to protest current authorities killings of demonstrators, his lawyer stated.
However the Iranian judiciary denied the starvation strike declare and stated the photographs which have gone viral on social media had been from 4 years in the past when Meysami did go on starvation strike.
As proof, the semi-official student-led information company Younger Journalists Membership posted what it stated was Meysami’s newest picture, through which he doesn’t look emaciated and is seen sitting on the ground of his jail cell with a bag of what appears to be like like chips subsequent to him.
Reuters was unable to substantiate when the images had been taken.
Iran has been rocked by nationwide unrest following the demise of Iranian Kurdish girl Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16 in police custody, posing one of many strongest challenges to the Islamic Republic for the reason that 1979 revolution.
Amini was arrested by morality police on fees of flouting the hijab coverage, which requires girls to decorate modestly and put on headscarfs. Girls have performed a distinguished position within the protests, a lot of them waving or burning their headscarfs.
Rights teams say greater than 500 protesters have been killed and practically 20,000 arrested. At the very least 4 individuals have been hanged, in response to the Iranian judiciary.
“My shopper Farhad Meysami’s life is at risk,” tweeted lawyer Mohammad Moghimi. “He went on starvation strike to protest the current authorities killings within the streets.” He stated Meysami had misplaced 52 kg (115 lb).
Pictures of Meysami present him curled up on what appears to be like like a hospital mattress, and one other standing, his ribs protruding.
“Surprising pictures of Dr. Farhad Meysami, a courageous advocate for ladies’s rights who has been on starvation strike in jail,” tweeted Robert Malley, Washington’s particular envoy for Iran.
“Iran’s regime has unjustly denied him and hundreds of different political prisoners their rights and their freedom. Now it unjustly threatens his life,” he stated.
In a letter revealed by BBC’s Persian Service, Meysami made three calls for: an finish to executions, the discharge of political-civil prisoners and an finish to “forced-hijab harassment”.
“I’ll proceed my inconceivable mission within the hope that it could develop into attainable afterward with a collective effort,” he wrote.
Award-winning Iranian movie director Jafar Panahi was launched on bail on Friday after he began a starvation strike to demand to be freed pending a retrial, the semi-official ISNA information company reported, citing the Administrators Guild of Iran.
There was no official phrase from the judiciary on the discharge.
Panahi was detained in July and advised he would serve a six-year jail sentence initially issued by a Tehran courtroom in 2010 amid a stepped-up crackdown on dissent.