The Media Line: Inmates in Iran Begin Hunger Strike Marking Mahsa Amini’s Death

Thirty-four women prisoners initiated a hunger strike on Sunday in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison to commemorate the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s killing and the protests that followed, according to the foundation of Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi.

“On September 15, 2024, 34 female political prisoners have gone on a hunger strike in commemoration of the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement and the killing of Mahsa (Jina) Amini,” the announcement stated.

Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian, died in Tehran while in the custody of the country’s religious morality police after being arrested for allegedly failing to wear her headscarf in accordance with government regulations. Her death ignited widespread outrage and anti-regime demonstrations across Iran.

Thousands were arrested and more than 500 were killed in the Iranian government’s subsequent crackdown, according to Iran Human Rights, an independent human rights organization based in Norway.

Sunday’s hunger strike, Mohammadi’s foundation said, was being carried out “in solidarity with the protesting people of Iran, against the government’s oppressive policies.”

Mohammadi, who has long campaigned against the mandatory hijab and the death penalty, has been imprisoned since November 2021. In June, her sentence was increased by an additional year without explanation.

The 52-year-old activist was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October of last year for her leading role in Iran’s “Women, Life, Freedom” protests and her children received the award on her behalf while she was hunger striking on behalf of the Bahai community, one of Iran’s persecuted ethnoreligious minority groups.