Akbar Ganji Breaks Hunger Strike in Iran

Reuters:

Dissident Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji has broken his eight-week-old hunger strike after calls by family and friends concerned about his deteriorating health, a judiciary spokesman said on Tuesday. "Thankfully his condition is better than before ... He has recently broken his hunger strike," he said. "It seems that this was due to the requests made by other people for him to end his hunger strike." READ MORE

Ganji's plight has provoked comments of outrage and concern from the United States, the European Union and numerous human rights groups.

The 46-year-old was imprisoned in 2001 after writing a string of stories linking officials to the murder of political dissidents.

He began his hunger strike in June to pressure the judiciary to grant him unconditional release. He was moved to a Tehran hospital, where he is kept under guard, last month as his health seriously deteriorated.

Yousef Molai, one of Ganji's lawyers, said he was unaware that Ganji had broken his hunger strike. "I pray that it is true," he told Reuters.

Relatives were not immediately available for comment.

This week Ganji's wife and his chief lawyer, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, urged him to start eating again.