Narges Mohammadi Continues Human Rights Activism Even in Prison

Narges Mohammadi, a human rights activist imprisoned in Iran, won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee in Norway announced on the morning of Friday, October 6, that Ms. Mohammadi, the spokesperson for the imprisoned Association for Human Rights Defenders, was awarded for her "tireless efforts in defense of human rights." Narges Mohammadi is the second Iranian to receive this prestigious global award after Shirin Ebadi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize two decades ago in October 2003 for her activism for democracy and human rights in Iran. Mohammadi has been imprisoned multiple times in Iran. She was released in October 2020 after serving five years in prison, but with a new case opened against her, she was sentenced in June 2021 to 80 lashes and 30 months in prison on charges such as "propaganda against the regime," "sit-in in the prison office," "disobedience to prison authorities," and "destruction of glass" and "defamation." Additionally, she was reportedly beaten in Evin prison for "not adhering to mandatory hijab." This human rights activist was imprisoned again in November 2021. Over the past year, she has repeatedly protested various issues from prison and has been sentenced for her stances to "propaganda activities" against the Islamic Republic. The judiciary's punishments against Narges Mohammadi increased with a new ruling to 10 years and 9 months in prison and 154 lashes. Despite this, Ms. Mohammadi continues her human rights activities from inside prison. In May of this year, she jointly received the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize with Niloufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, imprisoned journalists, and in June, she won the "Freedom to Write" award from the American PEN Association. Mohammadi stated that the Islamic Republic is facing "misery, disgust, and fearful instability."