Female Political Prisoners Protest in Support of Narges Mohammadi

News sources reported that female political and ideological prisoners in Evin Prison began a sit-in protest at 9 PM on Wednesday, March 1, in response to the authorities' refusal to grant leave to Narges Mohammadi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights activist, to attend her father's funeral. The human rights organization 'Hangaw' stated that the prisoners considered this behavior unjust and protested against it. According to published reports, the female political prisoners sang the song 'Blood of the Purple Flowers' during the sit-in. The social media account of Golrokh Iraee, a political prisoner in Evin, noted that the women sang 'Mountain Song' or 'Blood of the Purple Flowers' in protest against the denial of leave for Narges Mohammadi. On Golrokh Iraee's official page, a message from 60 political prisoners and Narges Mohammadi's fellow inmates was shared, expressing condolences to her and stating, 'We hope you can be with your family and friends for the final farewell to your beloved departed.' Several former and current political prisoners, including Afsaneh Emami, Leila Hosseinzadeh, Raheleh Ahmadi, Nazi Askoi, Shahnaz Akmali, Matlab Ahmadian, Rasoul Badaghi, Mostafa Tajzadeh, Amir Salar Davoodi, Keyvan Rahimian, Hossein Razag, Mehran Raouf, Maziar Seyednejad, Reza Shahabi, Sepehr Ziaei, Arash Keykhosravi, Saeed Madani, Abdollah Momeni, Mohammad Najafi, Rouhollah Nakhaei, and Amir Velayati, also sent separate messages of condolence to Narges Mohammadi. Narges Mohammadi's Instagram account announced the death of her father, Karim Mohammadi, on Tuesday, February 27, stating that he had been deprived of seeing his daughter for 22 months and had not heard her voice for three months. The Islamic Republic, over its more than four decades of rule in Iran, not only imprisons human rights defenders and political and civil activists but also harasses their families by depriving them of visitation and phone contact rights. The death of Narges Mohammadi's father, Karim Mohammadi, could not bear the 'longing to hear' his daughter's voice 'from the oppressive prison.' Narges Mohammadi joined the election boycott campaign, stating that the Islamic Republic deserves national boycott and global humiliation. Narges Mohammadi's initiative; a group of UN experts called for criminalizing 'gender apartheid.' Narges Mohammadi stated, 'We will continue the struggle to transition from the oppressive religious regime and the misogynistic Islamic Republic.'