Houra Nikbakht, Evin Prison: At the end of the tenth day of my dry hunger strike, I will continue it in a combined dry and wet form
Hengaw: Saturday, May 3, 2025
Starting the eleventh day of her hunger strike, Houra Nikbakht, whose physical condition has deteriorated, has announced in a new letter that she will now continue her strike in both dry and wet forms.
Hengaw has learned that Houra Nikbakht suffers from uterine cancer and has lost 10 kilograms over the past ten days.
This political prisoner, held in Evin Prison in Tehran, began her hunger strike on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, with the publication of a letter protesting what she described as the rise in executions among the “marginalized.” Today, Saturday, May 3, marks the eleventh day of her strike.
The full text of the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by Hengaw, reads:
"O people, you who sit secure and joyful in your shelters,
Someone in captivity is dyin...
Died.”
This is the daily reality in the prisons of the Islamic Republic, amid the pretentious contentedness of those comfortable with their status and privileges, while we, concerned with earning a living, are challenged with the daily survival.
For the last time, I am voicing my request:
O holders of privilege, do not remain silent!
Do whatever you can to protect the lives of the marginalized!
Following up on my request to you, at the end of the tenth day of my dry hunger strike, I will now continue it in a combined dry and wet form, so that I may sacrifice the greatest privilege I possess—my life.
Houra Nikbakht
May 3, 2025
Women's Ward, Evin Prison
#NoToExecution
#JinJiyanAzadi
Houra Nikbakht, a university lecturer and former editor-in-chief of the “Mashgh-e Barabari” publishing house, was arrested on June 12, 2024, after being summoned to Branch 3 of the Evin Prosecutor’s Office. She was transferred to the women’s ward of Evin Prison.
In August of the same year, Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court Branch 26, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, sentenced her to one year in prison on charges of “propaganda against the regime” and “insulting Khamenei.” She has been serving her sentence in Evin Prison since then.
