Narges Mohammadi Goes on Hunger Strike in Protest of 'Lack of Medical Attention for Sick Prisoners'

Narges Mohammadi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and political prisoner, has gone on a hunger strike in protest against the 'failure to send her to a heart hospital.' In a message shared on an Instagram account attributed to this human rights defender, her family announced that the reason for this hunger strike is to protest the 'Islamic Republic's policy of delay and lack of medical attention for sick prisoners' and to oppose the 'policy of either death or compulsory hijab for women in Iran.' According to the report, after a week of follow-ups by Narges Mohammadi from prison and her lawyer from judicial authorities 'up to today' (Monday, November 6), the Tehran prosecutor has opposed her transfer and has not issued a permit for her transfer. Meanwhile, according to the same source, this human rights defender 'should have been urgently transferred to a heart and lung center according to the diagnosis and echocardiogram of the prison's trusted physician a week ago.' Narges Mohammadi has previously stated that she is not willing to comply with the compulsory hijab for her transfer to the hospital, and for this reason, in previous instances, judicial authorities in prison have prevented her from being sent to the hospital. The Instagram account attributed to Narges Mohammadi mentioned on Monday, November 6, that her medical transfer has been blocked for the second time since September 4, citing her 'refusal' to wear the compulsory hijab and 'not wearing a headscarf' as the reason. According to this note, the prosecutor has ordered that 'under no circumstances' should Narges Mohammadi be sent to the hospital without a headscarf. The note published on the Nobel Peace Prize winner's Instagram account states that 'for the second time since September 4, she has been summoned to the women's ward for transfer to the hospital and to undergo a lung CT scan and echocardiogram, but due to not wearing a headscarf, she has not been allowed to leave the prison.' Narges Mohammadi had previously emphasized that in honor of the 'martyrdom of Armita,' she would not tolerate the 'compulsory hijab.' The Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to Narges Mohammadi on October 6 for her fight against oppression and injustice towards women in Iran. Born in 1972 in Zanjan, she has been arrested and imprisoned multiple times over the past two decades. In her latest legal case, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of 'anti-government propaganda' and is currently held in Evin Prison in Tehran.