Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, currently jailed in Iran for her activism for women’s rights, will begin a new hunger strike in prison as her prize is awarded in Norway, says her family.
At a news conference on Saturday in Oslo, Mohammadi’s husband Taghi Rahmani, their twin children, Ali and Kiana Rahmani, and her brother who are representing the veteran rights activist at the awards ceremony on Sunday, said the new strike is to show solidarity towards the Baha’i religious minority in Iran.
“She is not here with us today, she is in prison and she will be on a hunger strike in solidarity with a religious minority but we feel her presence here,” AFP quoted her younger brother, Hamidreza Mohammadi, as saying in a brief opening statement.
The 51-year-old Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Prize in October for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran.
Who is Narges Mohammadi?
Born in Zanjan, Mohammadi went to the Imam Khomeini International University and earned a Physics degree. While in college, Mohammadi stood out as a supporter of equality and women’s rights. After finishing her studies, she worked as an engineer and also wrote articles for different newspapers that sought reforms.
In 2003, she joined the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Tehran, an organisation established by Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi. Mohammadi was first arrested in 2011 and received a long prison sentence for her work in aiding activists and their families.
In 2013, after being granted bail, Mohammadi focused on advocating against the death penalty. However, she was arrested again in 2015 and given more years of imprisonment.
Having been arrested 13 times and handed five sentences totalling 31 years in prison along with 154 lashes, the Nobel Prize laureate has experienced repeated incarcerations over the last twenty years.
Mohammadi stands as a prominent figure among those leading the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, marked by widespread protests throughout Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who died while in custody after being detained for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress codes for women.
