Iranian Labor Activist on Hunger Strike

HRANA News Agency – On Tuesday, November 22, 2011, Reza Shahabi began his hunger strike to protest against 18 months of imprisonment and legal state of limbo. Reza Shahabi is a labor activist and the board member of SWTSBC, the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Reza Shahabi was taken into temporary custody on June 12, 2010 and locked up in Evin Prison. Since then, he has been imprisoned indefinitely in a legal state of limbo.

Recently, during a phone conversation with his family, Reza Shahabi informed them that he no longer could bear the current conditions and would begin his hunger strike on Tuesday, November 22, 2011.

Reza Shahabi has begun his hunger strike while he is in very poor health. According to medical experts, due to the loss of cartilage between some of his spinal vertebral joints and excessive pressure applied to his spinal nerves, Reza Shahabi might lose total control over his left arm and leg. Furthermore, the labor activist suffers from extreme pain in his neck, waist and hands and is experiencing heart and kidney problems.

Given Reza Shahabi’s current medical condition, a hunger strike can cause further irreparable damage to his health.