Narges Mohammadi: The Weapon of Imprisonment Cannot Silence Me

Narges Mohammadi, who is currently on medical leave, emphasized in a video message to the Nobel Committee in Norway that she will "never allow prison to take her voice away." In this message, which was fully released on Thursday, December 13, she noted that outside of prison, she has much more freedom to act, asserting that she will not let imprisonment silence her. This Nobel Peace Prize winner's call with the Nobel Committee took place on Sunday, December 10, marking her first conversation with them since being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee shared this information with the French news agency on December 13. In the video, Mohammadi speaks in Persian and English without the mandatory hijab. She emphasizes that the pursuit of human rights and women's rights is not a crime, stating that no prison wall can prevent her commitment to these rights and freedoms. In part of her message, she mentions that the Islamic Republic uses every opportunity to silence dissenting voices. She continues by saying that to do her work properly, she must be free; however, even if the Islamic Republic manages to silence her, nothing will change because, according to her, "the people of Iran do not want the Islamic Republic, and the government knows this." Mohammadi highlighted the recent protests by Iranians, asserting that "the people of Iran have risen up." This 52-year-old political and social activist has been arrested and imprisoned multiple times over the past 25 years, including being incarcerated for over three years due to charges related to her efforts against mandatory hijab and the death penalty in Iran. Last year, when Mohammadi was announced as the Nobel Peace Prize winner, her two children, residing in France, accepted the award on her behalf. Following a surgery, she was temporarily released from prison on December 5 for a three-week medical leave. Supporters of this human rights activist deemed the three-week leave insufficient and called for her unconditional and permanent release.