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Narges Mohammadi
Narges Mohammadi (Persian:نرگس محمدی; born 21 April 1972) is an Iranian human rights activist and scientist. She is the Vice-President of theDefenders of Human Rights Center. In 2016, she was sentenced toprison inTehran for her activism for human rights and against the death penalty in the country. She was released in 2020, however was sent back in 2021. In 2023, she was awarded theNobel Peace Prize.
In 1999, she married a journalist, Taghi Rahmani, and they have two children. Atuniversity, she was also active in amountain climbing group. Because of her love of mountains she organized clubs and trips to the mountain and learned about mountain climbing and mountaineering. Later, she was stopped from being in climbs due to her political activities.[1]
She is the vice president of theDefenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) started byShirin Ebadi. She has worked forwomen's rights and the ending of thedeath penalty. She had beenimprisoned because ofpoliticaloppression (poor treatment). In 2023, she won theNobel Peace Prize for "her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promotehuman rights andfreedom for all".[4] Mohammadi has been a strong supporter of womennot obeying the government. She has also spoken against the Iranian government's forcing girls and women to wear ahijab in public. She has attacked the hijab and thechastity program of 2023. As ajournalist she wrote forpublications such asPayam-e Hajar. This journal was banned because it published articles aboutgender rights, religion and political opinions. She also wrote political essays such as The Reforms, The Strategy and The Tactics.
Mohammadi was first arrested in 1998 because she said bad things about the Iranian government. She spent a year in prison. Then, In April 2010, she was taken to theIslamic Revolutionary Court for her membership in the DHRC. She was released for a short period on a US$50,000bail but arrested again some days later and held atEvin Prison. Mohammadi's health got worse while she was in prison, and she got a disease similar toepilepsy: sometimes, she loses muscle control. After a month, she was released and allowed to get medical treatment.
In July 2011 she was taken to court again and found guilty of "acting against the national security, membership of the DHRC andpropaganda against the [government]." In September 2011 she was sentenced to 11 years'imprisonment. She said that she was told of the court's decision only by herlawyers. She had been "given anunprecedented (never before used) 23-page judgement (sentencing decision) issued by the court in which they repeatedly likened my human rights activities to attempts to topple the regime." In March 2012, the sentence was reduced to six years by an appeals court. On 26 April, she was arrested to begin her sentence. The sentence was protested by theBritish Foreign Office, which called it "another sad example of the Iranian authorities' attempts to silence brave human rights defenders." In July 2012, an international group of lawmakers called for her release, includingUS SenatorMark Kirk, formerCanadianAttorney General Irwin Cotler, UKMP Denis MacShane, Australian MP Michael Danby, Italian MP Fiamma Nirenstein, and Lithuanian MP Emanuelis Zingeris. On 31 July 2012, Mohammadi was released from prison.
In May 2016, she was sentenced inTehran to 16 years' imprisonment for setting up and running "a human rights movement that campaigns for the abolition of the death penalty." She was let out in 2020 but sent back toprison in 2021, where she has since given reports of the abuse andsolitary confinement of women prisoners.Amnesty International said she was aprisoner of conscience and called for her immediate release.Reporters Without Borders issued an appeal on Mohammadi's behalf on the ninth anniversary of photographer Zahra Kazemi's death in Evin Prison, stating that Mohammadi was a prisoner whose life was "in particular danger."
In January 2024, theIranian government extended her jail sentence of 12 years for 'spreading propaganda'.[5]
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