Iranian hunger strikers protest against Ahmadinejad in New York

By AP, JPOST.COM STAFF
More than 100 Iranians and their supporters protesting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election victory marked the second day of a hunger strike Thursday with songs, speeches and demands that the United Nations investigate human rights abuses in Iran. The hunger strikers wore green sashes to mark their support for the Green Movement, born after hundreds of thousands of supporters of Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi took to the streets in protest after the June 12 elections, claiming he was robbed of victory. Another 100 supporters not on a hunger strike joined the protest across the street from UN headquarters. Led by prominent Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji, who spent 6 years imprisoned in Tehran for his investigative journalistic work, Hunger Strike at the UN is calling on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to appoint a special envoy to travel to Iran and investigate allegations of human rights abuses. On Monday former president Mohammad Khatami called for a national referendum to end the post-election crisis.