Ebadi urges journalist to end strike

Gulf Daily News:

8 August 2005

TEHRAN: Iranian human rights lawyer and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi yesterday urged her client, dissident journalist Akbar Ganji, to end a 58-day-old hunger strike undertaken in protest at his imprisonment.

"I am worried about Ganji's health. Right now, what matters is his life," Ebadi, who has written to Ganji to convey her message, said.

"As one of his lawyers ... I sincerely urge Ganji to end his hunger strike and eat food." Ganji, 46, an outspoken critic of the Islamic state's clerical leadership, was transferred from prison to a Tehran hospital last month as his health deteriorated.

Ebadi also criticised Iran's judiciary for refusing to allow her to visit Ganji. "This is unlawful," she said.

Ganji's wife, Masoumeh Shafiee, and Ebadi have been unable to see him for more than a week.