Around 30 January protest detainees begin mass hunger strike in Saveh prison

Hengaw – Friday, June 26, 2026

Around 30 people arrested during the January protests and currently held in Saveh Central Prison have begun a mass hunger strike over the harsh and unfair sentences imposed on them.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the coordinated hunger strike began on Friday, June 26, 2026, across multiple wards of Saveh Central Prison in Markazi Province.

Hengaw has learned that the political prisoners launched the strike in response to expedited judicial proceedings, security-driven case fabrication, and the lengthy prison sentences and additional punishments imposed by the Revolutionary and Criminal Courts of Markazi Province. The judiciary handed down the sentences based on forced confessions obtained under torture while disregarding the defendants' statements in their own defense.

The detainees have been held in Saveh Central Prison for approximately six months under poor sanitary and living conditions. During their detention, they have been denied access to independent legal counsel and deprived of their right to a fair trial.