Narges Mohammadi Refuses to Attend Revolutionary Court: 'It is a Slaughterhouse for the Youth of This Land'

Narges Mohammadi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and imprisoned human rights activist, has described the Revolutionary Court as a 'slaughterhouse for the youth' of the country and refused to attend her court session. The first trial of this political prisoner after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, December 19, in Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court. In a message published on an Instagram account attributed to her, she emphasized: 'The Revolutionary Court is a slaughterhouse for the youth of this land, and I will not set foot in this slaughterhouse, nor do I recognize any credibility or authority for judges affiliated with security institutions and sham courts.' In part of her message, she described the Revolutionary Courts as places where 'Mohsen Shekari was hanged for a mere civil protest and eight young protesters of the magnificent Women, Life, Freedom movement were executed.' In another section of this Nobel Peace Prize winner's note, she stated: 'Protesting youth are being sent in buses from prisons to these branches and have been sentenced to the most unjust rulings.' Narges Mohammadi noted in her message that 'the power of the protesters' has caused 'the tool of the authoritarian government, namely prison, to kneel before the will of brave prisoners.' This is the third time Narges Mohammadi has refused to attend her court session, emphasizing that she does not recognize the Revolutionary Court. This imprisoned human rights activist has previously been sentenced to '27 months in prison and 4 months of street cleaning and sanitation.' The Ministry of Intelligence has also called for Narges Mohammadi's exile and the execution of her sentence outside Tehran. Lawyer Hossein Ahmadi Niaz believes that the Iranian government is seeking to impose more illegal pressures on Narges Mohammadi and considers most of the rulings against her to be the result of 'case fabrication' by security institutions. Hossein Ahmadi Niaz stated that the international community knows the rulings against Narges Mohammadi are not legal. Narges Mohammadi is the second Iranian woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded twenty years ago in 2003 to Shirin Ebadi, a lawyer and human rights activist.