'Iran journalist 'officially' ends hunger strike'

IranMania.com:

Leading Iranian dissident journalist Akbar Ganji has "officially" ended his hunger strike, a senior judiciary official said Wednesday. READ MORE

The 46-year-old dissident, who was sentenced to six years in prison in 2001 after he wrote articles implicating several regime officials in the murders of opposition intellectuals and writers, has been fasting since June 11 in a bid to secure his unconditional release, AFP said.

But Tehran's deputy public prosecutor Mahmoud Salarkia told the student news agency ISNA that the hunger strike ended on Tuesday and that Ganji was now "ready to cooperate with doctors".

There was no independent confirmation of the statement, given the judiciary has blocked visits to the jailed journalist. The judiciary has on several occasions also denied Ganji was even on a hunger strike.

Salarkia said doctors had decided that "given his condition, he cannot see his family".

Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi charged Monday that Ganji's hunger strike was mere "play-acting". "One day, he eats and then for several days he refuses to do so," Mortazavi said.

The judiciary also raided the Ganji family home earlier this month after letters bearing the dissident's signature were posted on the Internet.

We need independent confirmation. The regime has released many false reports about his condition.