hunger strike

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Egypt's President Pardons Prominent Political Prisoner

Alaa Abd el-Fattah freed after years in prison and global advocacy efforts

(Newser) - A pardon from Egypt's president has ended one of the country's most closely watched cases of political imprisonment. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has granted a pardon to Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a high-profile Egyptian-British activist whose repeated detentions and hunger strikes made him a global symbol of opposition...

Pushing for Son's Freedom, Mom Ends Up in Hospital Again

'We're losing her,' daughter says of Laila Soueif, on a hunger strike for activist son imprisoned in Egypt

(Newser) - The mother of a pro-democracy activist imprisoned in Egypt is seriously ill in a London hospital after resuming a monthslong hunger strike aimed at pressing for her son's release, her family said Friday. Laila Soueif was admitted to St. Thomas' Hospital on Thursday night with dangerously low blood-sugar levels,...

Cynthia Nixon Goes on 2-Day Hunger Strike

Actor is calling for Gaza ceasefire

(Newser) - Cynthia Nixon joined a hunger strike calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, though the actress only participated for two days. She joined a group of left-wing activists and lawmakers outside the White House on Monday for what is planned to be a five-day strike, per the Hollywood Reporter . The...

Latest Nobel Peace Laureate Goes on Hunger Strike

Latest laureate Narges Mohammadi is in Iranian prison, protesting access to health care, mandatory hijabs

(Newser) - Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi began a hunger strike Monday over being blocked along with other inmates from getting medical care and to protest the country's mandatory headscarves for women, said a campaign advocating for the activist. The decision by Mohammadi, 51, increases pressure on Iran's theocracy...

Activist Plans to Risk Prison for Father Jailed in Bahrain

Maryam al-Khawaja says government's promise of prison reform is a ruse timed to US visit

(Newser) - In early August, more than 800 prisoners launched Bahrain's largest-ever hunger strike, demanding access to life-saving medical care and other improved conditions in the country's largest prison. That strike was paused Monday—two days before Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa's scheduled visit to Washington—as...

Imprisoned in Iran, He Has Message for Biden

American Siamak Namazi slams Biden, Trump, Obama for failing to secure his release since 2015

(Newser) - Three Americans have been wrongfully detained in Iran for years, and one of them is now taking desperate measures to gain President Biden's attention. CNN reports that Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American oil executive who was taken into custody during a visit to Tehran in late 2015, has embarked on...

Palestinian Hunger Striker Has Refused Food for 160 Days

Egypt is seeking release of Khalil Awawdeh as part of Gaza ceasefire deal

(Newser) - A Palestinian hunger striker who his family says has refused food for the past 160 days and is wasting away in an Israeli jailhouse infirmary has suddenly been thrust into the center of efforts to firm up a Gaza ceasefire. Khalil Awawdeh is in the spotlight because the Islamic Jihad...

Jailed for COVID Reporting, Zhang Zhan 'May Not Survive'

Family of Chinese citizen journalist say she's near death behind bars after hunger strike

(Newser) - Update: Hints that things had deteriorated for the Chinese citizen journalist put in prison for reporting on the coronavirus in Wuhan in early 2020 came over the summer . Now, more sobering news: Zhang Zhan's family says she is not far from dying after going on a hunger strike behind...

Lawyers: Don't Force-Feed 9/11 Suspect in Gitmo

Ramzi bin al-Shibh, on hunger strike, wants out of isolation

(Newser) - Defense lawyers are trying to block any attempt to force-feed a Guantanamo Bay prisoner accused of conspiring in the 9/11 attacks, who has stopped eating in protest of his placement in isolation, according to the New York Times . In a legal filing, lawyers say 49-year-old Ramzi bin al-Shibh has been...

White Woman on 40-Day Hunger Strike Over Reparations

'My silence has allowed the systemic racism to continue,' says Rachelle Zola of Chicago

(Newser) - Chicago resident Rachelle Zola believes so strongly in slavery reparations that she's willing to die for them. Did we mention she's a 73-year-old white woman who didn't have a Black friend until 2015? "Am I willing to die for my brothers and my sisters when there'...

Navalny to End Hunger Strike on Doctors' Orders
Navalny
Will Start
Eating Again
Apr 23, 2021 11:14 AM CDT

Navalny Will Start Eating Again

Putin critic will end his hunger strike after being allowed to see doctors

(Newser) - Alexei Navalny says he'll start a 24-day process of ending his hunger strike in a Russian penal colony, a day after doctors said he would die otherwise. The Russian opposition leader announced the move through lawyers on Instagram Friday, noting his goal of receiving care from outside doctors was...

Navalny's Team: Russia Is Killing Him, 'in Front of Us All'

Authorities say Russian dissident is now in prison hospital; allies aren't hopeful for 'good news'

(Newser) - How things look for Alexei Navalny depends on who's doing the informing. Over the weekend, a group of doctors said blood tests showed the imprisoned Russian dissident, on a hunger strike since March 31, was likely to die within days unless he received medical attention. On Monday, a Navalny...

Navalny Could Be Down to a Few Days, Doctors Say

Prisoner's potassium levels have fallen dangerously low, letter says

(Newser) - Blood tests show indicate Alexei Navalny is likely to die in the next few days unless he receives medical attention, doctors said Saturday. A group of physicians has asked prison authorities to allow them to treat the Russian opposition activist, the BBC reports. "His condition is indeed critical,"...

4 People Say They Won't Eat Until Louisville Cops Fired

Hunger strike is tied to Breonna Taylor's death

(Newser) - Four Louisville protesters on Monday launched a hunger strike that they say will continue until the police officers involved in Breonna Taylor's death are fired and stripped of their pensions. The demonstration, which is being monitored by medical personnel and taking place at an Airbnb rental, is being livestreamed...

Dylann Roof Gripes on 'Harsh' Treatment, Does This to Protest

Mass murderer went on hunger strike after he says he was 'targeted by staff' in Indiana federal prison

(Newser) - In a Feb. 13 letter, mass murderer Dylann Roof told the AP he was "several days" into a hunger strike in protest of "harsh" treatment inside a federal prison in Indiana. The 25-year-old white supremacist said he'd been "targeted by staff," "verbally harassed and...

For Jailed Mom: 2 Hunger Strikes, 4K Miles Apart

Goal is release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Iran

(Newser) - A British-Iranian charity worker has begun her third hunger strike in a Tehran prison where she's held for spying. The twist this time is that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe, is engaged in a hunger strike of his own outside the Iranian Embassy in London as the pair...

Migrant on Hunger Strike: I'm Being Force-Fed

Man says he's tied down and force-fed through tubes

(Newser) - Nine men—up from six earlier this week—are being force-fed under court order in a detention center in El Paso, Texas, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. One of the hunger strikers, a 22-year-old man from Indian who called the AP on Friday, described how he is dragged from...

Fast Over Dirty Ganges Ends With Activist's Death

G.D. Agarwal began his fast in June

(Newser) - An 86-year-old Indian activist died Thursday during a hunger strike to protest pollution in the Ganges River, Reuters reports. G.D. Agarwal was more than 15 weeks into a fast that he began on June 22. He was demanding a law to protect the Ganges—India's largest waterway, sacred...

Facing Deportation, Army Vet Says He'd Rather Die

Miguel Perez Jr. began a hunger strike on Wednesday

(Newser) - An Army vet and longtime green card holder has begun a hunger strike after failing to block his deportation to Mexico, which could be imminent because of a felony drug conviction. Fearing drug cartels will kill him after a failed attempt to recruit him for his military background, 39-year-old Miguel...

Gitmo Prisoner: US Is Now 'Starving Me to Death'

Disturbing column comes amid reports officials have stopped force-feeding hunger-strikers

(Newser) - Multiple sources tell the New York Times that officials at Guantanamo Bay have started waiting longer before force-feeding hunger-striking prisoners, allowing their physical condition to deteriorate past the point that previously would have resulted in intervention. Per information received from detainees' lawyers, the Times says the change was implemented around...

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