The Norwegian Nobel Committee this Friday awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize to Iranian journalist and activist Narkes Mohammadi, who has been serving nearly ten years in Evin prison, where the Islamic Republic holds political prisoners.
The decision is being celebrated by human rights activists in Iran, a year after the death of 22-year-old Zina Mahza Amini in the custody of the “moral police” and days after a teenager fell into a coma. Witnesses say she was pushed by an agent – part of one of the new units dedicated to enforcing conscription – after hitting her head inside a metro carriage in the Iranian capital. Hijab.
16-year-old Armita Garavant does not wear the Islamic headscarf; Amini was arrested for “improper use”. Hijab. His death sparked a social revolution that has already transformed the country, with young men and women killed at the hands of the regime, even with the brutal crackdown that created the new Amini within weeks — for refusing to use it. HijabFor participating in protests, for refusing to sing a propaganda song in the classroom.
Despite more than 500 deaths and more than 15,000 prisoners, including seven already executed, many Iranian women of all ages no longer cover their hair when walking the streets. “The motto adopted by the protesters – “Woman – Life – Freedom” – adequately expresses the work and commitment of Nargus Mohammadi,” the Norwegian group added. slogan gave the movement its name.
Even after his arrest, Mohammadi, 51, has been making his voice heard on behalf of the “millions of people who have protested against the theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression against women”, condemning the Iranian authorities. The committee says it approves the award.
In Sound recording Shared with CNN, and released Thursday by the news channel, the inmates can be heard singing “Woman – Life – Freedom” in Mohammadi’s voice. Before the recording is interrupted with an automated message – “This is a phone call from Evin prison -“, the inmates can still be heard singing a Farsi version of the Italian protest song. Bella Chiao.
“This period has been and continues to be an era of great protests in this prison,” Mohammadi told CNN in a written response to televised questions. Commenting on the Armita Garavant affair, Mohammadi described the regime’s behavior as “a sign of its concerted efforts to prevent the truth from coming to light”.
Officials in the Islamic Republic, which released only a portion of the metro’s surveillance cameras, reiterated that Armida fainted due to “sudden stress.” The teenager’s parents were forced to give an interview in which they confirmed this version, but according to the human rights organization Henga, which first published the photo of Armita in a coma, her mother, Shahin Ahmadi, was “violently” detained on Thursday. The young woman was admitted near Fajr Air Force Hospital on Friday.
“I think my daughter’s blood pressure has gone down. I’m not sure, I think they said her blood pressure had dropped,” Ahmadi says in the published interview. Average Officers.
The Iranian journalist, who was arrested 13 times and sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes, has not been one of the leading voices in the fight against the oppression of women and in her efforts to promote human rights in her country. .
Mohammadi, who has already received several awards, including UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Award, is the vice president of the Center for Human Rights Defenders, a non-governmental organization. Shirin EbadiAn Iranian who won the Nobel Peace Prize exactly 20 years ago.
“For demonstrating the importance of civil society, the Norwegian Nobel Committee is returning to the award process, a year after choosing Belarusian human rights activist Ales Byaliatsky, the Human Rights Organizations Memorial from Russia and the Center for Civil Rights from Ukraine. For Peace and Democracy.”
“Hardcore explorer. Extreme communicator. Professional writer. General music practitioner. Prone to fits of apathy.”