Protest over Iran journalist on hunger strike

Reuters:

Around 250 supporters of Akbar Ganji, the Iranian dissident journalist who has been on hunger strike for 63 days, held a peaceful protest on Thursday outside the hospital where he is being held. READ MORE

It was the latest effort by supporters of the maverick journalist, jailed in 2000 for "acting against national security" and other crimes, to call for his release and try to persuade him to end his hunger strike.

Former student activist Ali Afshari said officials prevented a delegation of the supporters from visiting Ganji, whose plight has provoked outrage and concern from the White House, the European Union and many human rights groups.

"From now on, the responsibility for Akbar's Ganji's life rests on the shoulders of those who didn't let us in today," Afshari said.

The demonstrators, many of them prominent reformist activists who had hoped to persuade Ganji to resume eating, sang songs and waved pictures of him.

"After 63 days of hunger strike, Ganji has lost 30 kg (66 lbs)," said Hessam Firouzi, a doctor among Ganji's supporters who was permitted to study his medical chart. "Since two days ago he has been in an intensive care unit."

Ganji 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.