The 2023 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Narges Mohammadi for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.”
Mohammadi is one of Iran’s leading human rights activists and she has been at the forefront of campaigns to remove the death penalty. She has also documented the conditions of women imprisoned in Iran including the sexual abuse and torture they have experienced.
She is currently serving multiple sentences in Tehran’s Evin Prison, her combined sentences will see her kept behind bars for 12 years. Among her crimes is the charge of spreading propaganda against the state.
Authorities released the activist briefly in 2020 but sent her back to prison the following year.
In a statement to the New York Times the activist said she would never stop striving for democracy and equality even if it meant staying in prison.
“I will continue to fight against the relentless discrimination, tyranny and gender-based oppression by the oppressive religious government until the liberation of women,” she said.
Mohammadi’s husband and children have lived in exile in France since 2012. Her husband Taghi Rahmani is a pro-reform journalist who has been described as Iran’s most frequently jailed journalist. Between 1981 and 2005 he spent a total of 5,000 days in prison.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the decision to give the award to Mohammadi.
OIP Staff, Illustration: Niklas Elmehed
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