Iranian woman jailed for promoting rights receives Nobel Peace Prize, according to Narges Mohammadi
Human rights advocate Narges Mohammadi, who is now incarcerated, has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize.
The 51-year-old Ms. Mohammadi received the award, according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, for her struggle against women’s repression in Iran.
According to committee head Berit Reiss-Andersen, her struggle has cost her a “tremendous personal cost.”
Currently, Ms. Mohammadi is incarcerated for ten years in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.
Iran has replied by accusing the Nobel committee of interfering, and the Foreign Ministry has denounced the granting of the peace prize as “biased” and consistent with “the interventionist and anti-Iran policies of some European countries”.
Giving the award to someone who has been found guilty and is presently serving a jail sentence, according to the official news agency IRNA, “can only be called politicizing the concept of human rights and acting in a meddling manner.”
Who is Narges Mohammadi, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize?
The honor was granted to Ms. Mohammadi for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,” according to Ms. Reiss-Andersen, who spoke at the ceremony on Friday in Oslo.
She opened her speech with the phrase “woman, life, freedom” in allusion to the recent slogan of the widespread protests taking place in Iran.
She continued by saying that the award was given in honor of the hundreds of thousands of Iranians who had rallied against the “theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women” over the course of the previous year. She claimed that the movement was led by the newly awarded Nobel Prize.
Along with global human rights campaigners, millions of Iranians will celebrate this prize. A very clear message of displeasure is sent to the Iranian government by the Nobel committee’s decision.
In order for Ms. Mohammadi to attend the award ceremony in December, Ms. Reiss-Andersen urged Iran to free her from prison during the celebration.
“If the Iranian authorities make the right decision they will release her so she can be present to receive this honour, which is what we primarily hope for.”
However, it appears improbable that the activist will be able to claim her award.
According to the UN, the prize recognized “the courage and tenacity of Iranian women and how they are an inspiration to the world.”
British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who stayed in Evin prison alongside Ms Mohammadi until her release in March 2022, expressed her happiness for her companion.
“I cry when I see it. She went above and above for all of us in Evin. For her bold struggle against the mistreatment of women’s rights, the use of solitary confinement, and execution in the Iranian legal system, Narges is an inspiration and a pillar to the women in the female ward in Evin.
“This award belongs to every single Iranian woman who, one way or another, has been and remains a victim of injustice in Iran.”
Ali Rahmani, Ms. Mohammadi’s son, who she hasn’t seen in eight years, found out in class.
“I was very happy and felt proud of my mom,” he told the BBC.
“It took me a while to adjust, so at first I was just as glad and proud of my mother as I always am, exactly like yesterday and the day before that. The Iranian people are entitled to this honor. The protests are the reason.
Emmanuel Macron of France described Ms. Mohammadi as a “freedom fighter who each time faced the reality… the cruelty of this regime,” while Abram Paley, the interim US envoy on Iran, praised her bravery.
Ms. Mohammadi has been detained 13 times, found guilty five times, and given a total of 31 years in prison in addition to her current sentence. Additionally, she was given a 154-lash sentence; however, it is unknown if she has actually received those lashes.
She described to the BBC in agonizing detail how Iranian women caught during demonstrations were subjected to physical and sexual harassment in a letter she sent from prison last December.
She claimed that during the protests that followed the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, while in the custody of the police, in September 2022, such assaults had increased in frequency.
Later, the discontent extended throughout the nation, with demands ranging from increased liberties to the toppling of the government.
The world was enthralled by pictures of Iranian ladies bravely igniting their headscarves. However, the protests have largely receded as a result of the severe crackdown by the Iranian government on them.
Ms. Mohammadi is the center’s deputy director for human rights.
In an interview with the BBC in 2020, Ms. Mohammadi gave an explanation of her motivation for devoting her life to furthering women’s rights in Iran.
“In my opinion, supporting human rights efforts and actions aimed at achieving freedom and justice anywhere in the world, whether in Iran or any other country, is very important and very heart-warming,” she explained.
She appeared on the prestigious BBC 100 Women list of 100 powerful women from around the world last year.