Ahmadi works for many local Kurdish papers, and was doing so when returning from Iraqi Kurdistan when his personal belongings, notes, etc, were confiscated by police officers. At the time, he was investigating the “Manslaughter of Qarna villagers in the 80s”. In protest to his arrest, Ahmadi went on a hunger strike.

After 120 days of detention, the Kurdish journalist was released from Marivan Prison on a US$50,000 bail. Ahmadi’s close friend explained that, “Madeh Ahmadi was charged with ‘Conspiracy against National Security’ because of his interviews with foreign media outlets, communication with opposition parties, [and] introducing the regime as a human rights violator’, among other things. His friend added that, “He [Ahmadi] was first detained and kept by police officers, but after 16 days he was handed over to intelligence agents who interrogated him for the remainder of the arrest.”

When Ahmadi was arrested, the head of the Committee for the Defense of Prisoners’ Rights, Emadeddin Baghi, wrote a letter the Chief Justice and demanded Ahmadi and 33 other prisoners’ release. The Chief Justice agreed to release everyone on the list, with the exception of Ahmadi. This led to his second hunger strike; this time he also sewed shut his own lips.

Ten years later, in an interview, Ahmadi told IranWire: “Under a dictatorship, a hunger strike is a form of civil disobedience for prisoners, especially political prisoners. [They] have to do [it] in order to voice their needs. But with that being said, considering the way [in which] the government reacts to this, and the unjust and unfair judicial system in Iran, now that I look at it, I don’t find it an effectively impactful way to demand your rights. A hunger strike has harsh and [has] long-lasting consequences for the individual, and can even cost them their lives. In other words, a hunger strike is a dangerous thing that an individual does when left with no other means to regain their suppressed basic rights.”

According to Ahmadi, during the entire time he was on a hunger strike, he did not receive any health or medical attention: “There were only some guards who once in a while would come to the solitary confinement to take some photos. All the guards would look you with contempt, as if you committed an unspeakable crime.”