Iranian Female Political Prisoner Ends Hunger Strike

In a letter, Hedayat said, "In honor of all those seeking justice, especially the mothers of the victims, I am ending my hunger strike."

The decision to end her hunger strike - which began in February - coincides with the one year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody. 

She vowed to continue the fight for justice: "I end my hunger strike, but I will not break my commitment, a commitment to myself and to you, the suffering people of my homeland, until the day the footprint of the Islamic Republic, this anti-freedom regime, is erased from the soil of Iran."

Hedayat's journey as a political prisoner dates back to her sentencing in connection to the protests that erupted following the tragic downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane by the Revolutionary Guards in January 2020. Her sentence amounted to four years and eight months of imprisonment.

In October of the same year, she was apprehended by security forces at the residence of a friend, subsequently being transferred to the women's ward of Evin Prison in November for the execution of her sentence.

However, her ordeal did not end there, as the authorities opened a new case against her in mid-November last year. The new case brought forth several additional charges, including "anti-system propaganda, collusion, and the promotion of corruption."