Narges Mohammadi, crowned Friday with the Nobel Peace Prize while imprisoned in Iran, “burst with joy” and “celebrated” this victory in the company of her fellow prisoners “in their cell,” the family said on Saturday. the AFP. “Narges learned that he was a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday late afternoon through messages relayed from the men’s quarters, who have easier access to telephones on Fridays,” the family said in a statement sent to the ‘AFP.
“The same evening, state television broadcast the news at 10:30 p.m., painting an insulting and defamatory portrait of Narges,” the text continues. Narges and her fellow inmates then burst into joy and celebrated this victory in their cell. »
Imprisoned several times for 25 years
Narges Mohammadi, a 51-year-old activist and journalist, received the Nobel Peace Prize “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,” said the President of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen. Vice-president of the Center for Human Rights Defenders founded by Shirin Ebadi, also a Nobel Prize winner in 2003, Narges Mohammadi has been repeatedly convicted and imprisoned for 25 years for her commitment against compulsory veiling for women and against the death sentence.
When his distinction was announced, the UN requested his release, but Tehran denounced “a biased and political decision”. “We note that the Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to a person convicted of repeated violations of the laws and who committed criminal acts,” reacted the spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Kanani, in a statement.
Ali, 17, son of the activist who lives with his sister and their father, in exile in Paris, said on Friday he was “very, very proud of her, very happy”, adding that this prize constituted “a reward for the Iranian people,” during a press conference. “Narges is aware that this will also put her in difficulty, but she assumes this risk,” commented Taghi Rahmani, the husband of Narges Mohammadi, himself a human rights activist and former political prisoner.