Kathmandu: Iran’s Revolutionary Court has sentenced Nobel Peace Prize laureate and prominent human rights activist Narges Mohammadi to more than seven years in prison on charges of “conspiracy against the state” and spreading “propaganda,” according to her lawyer.
In addition to the prison term, the court has imposed two years of internal exile and a travel ban. Mohammadi has been on a hunger strike since February. She has been a vocal supporter of protests that erupted in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini.
Mohammadi had previously spent 13 years in prison and was temporarily released on health grounds. Human rights organizations have strongly condemned the latest sentence. The ruling comes at a sensitive time, as Iran is engaged in negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program.
She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023, becoming the second Iranian woman to receive the honor. The Nobel Committee recognized her struggle against the oppression of women in Iran and her efforts to defend political prisoners. She has also been an outspoken critic of the death penalty in the country.
The chair of the Nobel Committee described Mohammadi as a “freedom fighter.” At the time the prize was awarded, she was being held at Tehran’s Evin Prison, and the award was accepted on her behalf by her children, who live in Paris. In her book “White Torture: Interviews with Iranian Women Prisoners,” Mohammadi documents her prison experiences along with those of 12 other inmates.
Narges Mohammadi has been campaigning for human rights in Iran for more than three decades. During this period, she has been arrested 13 times and imprisoned repeatedly. She was first detained in 2011, and in 2015 she was arrested on charges of spreading propaganda against national security and held at Zanjan Central Prison. In 2020, she was released after her sentence was reduced.
