Iran dissident Ganji stops hunger strike-judiciary

Reuters:

Tue Aug 9, 2005

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Jailed 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."

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.

A relative, reached by phone at Ganji's home in Tehran, could not confirm he had ended his hunger strike.

"We haven't been able to see him since last Monday (Aug. 1) so how can we possibly confirm or deny" the report, he said, accusing authorities of preventing family members from visiting Ganji in hospital.

"The whole family are strongly asking him to stop his hunger strike because his health is our main concern," he added.

Ganji's lawyers, 2003 Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi and Yousef Molai, were also unaware that Ganji had broken his hunger strike. "I pray that it is true," Molai told Reuters.