Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki: Iranian blogger bailed after 38-day hunger strike

A blogger who was sentenced to 15 years in an Iranian jail has been let out on bail following a 10-day hunger strike.

Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki, who was jailed in 2009, had been protesting his sentence and highlighting the lack of healthcare treatment offered to him for kidney problems he suffered while in prison and was released on bail on 4 May.

The blogger was able to seek medical treatment, visiting a hospital immediately after his release, and intends to continue fighting to have his sentence overturned having protested his innocence at the charges since his arrest following unrest related to the 2009 election.

He was accused of 'insulting the Supreme Leader' and spreading anti-regime propaganda on his blog at a time when thousands of people were detained in connection with the protests that followed the 2009 election while censorship also increased.

After several years in prison, Ronaghi-Maleki had been released to seek medical treatment in June 2015 after he made bail, but seven months later he was told to return to prison – posting a message to his followers on Twitter that 'it might be my last post'.

It was reported in Journalism is Not a Crime that Ronaghi-Maleki's case is set to be reviewed after he was released on what is thought to be a $100,000 bail bond.

NOTE:
This article was corrected to state that Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki's hunger strike lasted 38, not 10, days.