Hundreds of Civil Activists Call on Emmanuel Macron to Efforts for the Release of Narges Mohammadi

More than 850 writers, artists, human rights activists, and feminist women's rights advocates from Iran and France have issued an open letter to Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, urging him to make efforts for the immediate release of Narges Mohammadi, a imprisoned human rights activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and honorary citizen of France. The signatories of this letter, published on Friday, December 2, noted that Ms. Mohammadi has spent many years of her life fighting against executions and gender apartheid in Iran and is paying a heavy price for this courageous stance. They wrote that since last autumn, she has been deprived of the right to contact and meet with her lawyer and family. In another part of the letter, they added that 52-year-old Narges Mohammadi is now facing more than 10 years of imprisonment and is also deprived of essential medical care, stating: "Iranian authorities are deliberately endangering her life while she suffers from severe health issues including heart disease, back pain, eye disorders, a suspicious mass in her breast, and the possibility of bone cancer." According to reports, Narges Mohammadi has suffered from diseases such as heart disease over the years. In this regard, her lawyer announced on November 4 that during a recent medical examination, doctors discovered a suspicious bone lesion in her right leg, and this political prisoner underwent surgery to remove part of the bone from her leg, including a bone graft. The signatories of the letter described this level of negligence regarding Ms. Mohammadi's health, despite the rapid deterioration of her physical condition, as "planned oppression and an attempt to silence one of the loudest cries for justice in Iran." Previously, negligence regarding the health and physical conditions of political prisoners has led to the deaths of several of them, including Shahrokh Zamani, Bakhtash Abtin, and Hadi Saber. The letter called on the President of France to "seriously, urgently, and effectively act for the unconditional release" of Narges Mohammadi; "someone who not only has a spouse and children who are citizens of France but has also received honorary citizenship awards from cities such as Lyon, Chile Mazaran in the Paris region, La Bois, and Vire in Calvados." The writers, artists, human rights activists, and feminist women's rights advocates who signed the letter urged Emmanuel Macron to work towards "ending the mistreatment of all political prisoners in Iran, prioritizing human rights in negotiations with the Islamic Republic regime, and taking all possible and necessary actions for the release of Narges Mohammadi and saving her life." More than 40 international organizations also called for the immediate release of Narges Mohammadi, the imprisoned human rights activist in Evin prison and Nobel Peace Prize winner, in a joint letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council last week. According to the Iran Human Rights Campaign website, the letter from these 44 organizations stated that Ms. Mohammadi has faced "fabricated and baseless charges" for over a decade and has repeatedly been deprived of medical services in recent years. Narges Mohammadi, a human rights defender, has been arrested and imprisoned multiple times by the authorities of the Islamic Republic due to her activities. Her current imprisonment began in November 2021 following her conviction in May of that year, with additional charges raised against her in January and October 2022, as well as in January, June, and October 2023. She is now sentenced to 13 years and 9 months in prison and 154 lashes. Her charges include "propaganda against the regime" and "collusion and conspiracy against national security."