Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has initiated a hunger strike in her prison cell in Tehran this Monday. Her protest aims to draw attention to Iran’s alleged negligence towards ailing inmates and the penalization of women who refuse to adhere to the mandatory wearing of the hijab.
At 51-years-old, Mohammadi finds herself serving a series of prison terms at Tehran’s Evin Prison, which collectively impose almost 12 years of confinement. She obtained these sentences due to her advocacy work with the Defenders of Human Rights Centre, which began in 1998. A brief respite from incarceration occurred in October 2020, but subsequent charges of propaganda and defamation led to her rearrest. Notably, these charges incorporated her nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, branded as “espionage for a hostile state”.
In 2022, Mohammadi was forced to confront serious health problems necessitating hospitalization and emergency surgery for heart and lung conditions. A medical leave was shortly granted but she was soon returned to custody. A subsequent appointment with a heart specialist was cancelled due to her refusal to wear the hijab.
Mohammadi has maintained a persistent voice throughout her sentences, championing prisoner rights. Her ongoing hunger strike, as communicated by her family’s Twitter account, is an explicit condemnation of the “Islamic Republic’s policy of delaying and neglecting medical care for sick inmates, resulting in the loss of the health and lives of individuals”, along with the enforced practice of wearing a hijab for Iranian women.
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