Iranian women’s right activist Saba Kord Afshari is on hunger strike in Tehran’s Qarchak Prison.

Kord Afshari, a campaigner against compulsory hijab for women, began the strike on May 8 to protest the detention of her mother.

The activist was arrested in June 2019. Her “crime” was the posting of an online video protesting the mandatory head covering in public. She was initially sentenced to 24 years before the term was reduced on appeal.

Kord Afshari has reportedly contracted Coronavirus and suffered stomach bleeding while in prison.

Her mother Raheleh Ahmadi was taken to Tehran’s Evin Prison last year and given a 31-month sentence after speaking out about her daughter.

Protests against hijab drew international attention from December 27 when women stood on electricity boxes in city streets, including in Tehran, and waved white headscarves on poles. Iranian authorities arrested 29 women, some of whom are serving long sentences.

Prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was seized and reportedly handed a 33-year sentence for her representation of the women.

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