Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammadi has gone on hunger strike to protest against her prison conditions in Iran. Her family is concerned about the activist’s health.
Imprisoned Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi went on hunger strike to protest for better medical care in prison, according to her family. In a message from Tehran’s Evin Prison, Mohammadi informed her family about the start of the hunger strike, a statement said. Mohammadi not only wants to protest for better prison conditions, but also against the requirement for women to wear headscarves.
“We are very concerned about her health,” emphasized the family. Last week, according to her family, the activist was denied transport to urgently needed medical treatment at a heart clinic because she refused to wear the headscarf required for women in Iran.
Imprisoned for “propaganda against the state.”
The 51-year-old Mohammadi plays a central role in the fight for women’s rights and freedom of expression in her country. She campaigns against the compulsory headscarf and the death penalty in Iran. Because of this, she has been repeatedly imprisoned and whipped since 1998.
Since November 2021, she has been imprisoned in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison for “propaganda against the state”. For her efforts, Mohammadi will be awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize in December. According to the Nobel Committee, she receives the prize “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.”