Nasim Gholami Simyari goes on hunger strike in protest of Fariba Kamalabadi’s continued detention

Hengaw – Sunday, October 12, 2025

Nasim Gholami Simyari, a political prisoner and one of those detained during the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, has launched a hunger strike at Evin Prison to protest the cancellation of her cellmate Fariba Kamalabadi’s scheduled release. Kamalabadi, a 63-year-old adherent of the Baha’i faith, remains imprisoned despite prior assurances of her release.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Nasim Gholami Simyari, aged 38, originally from Alamut, Qazvin Province, and residing in Tehran, began her hunger strike in solidarity with Kamalabadi, condemning the authorities’ continued imprisonment of the veteran Baha’i prisoner.

Prominent political prisoner and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi expressed support for Gholami’s action, writing:

“A prisoner’s protest for her cellmate is the embodiment of sisterhood, empathy, and the endless suffering of women behind bars. Our struggle is shared — let us be their voice. Free Fariba Kamalabadi.”

On her Instagram page, Gholami Simyari also posted a message stating:

“For Fariba and the thousands of days she has endured in captivity — for her pain, her patience, and her resilience — I will remain on hunger strike until my beloved Fariba, my teacher and inspiration, is unconditionally freed.”

Fariba Kamalabadi, a former member of the leadership council of the Baha’i community in Iran, was previously imprisoned for ten years before being released in 2017. She was rearrested in August 2022 and sentenced to another ten years in prison, of which she has already served three.

Despite earlier assurances from both her lawyer and judicial authorities regarding her imminent release, the decision was abruptly reversed, prompting widespread concern and outrage among human rights advocates and fellow inmates.