By Caroline Hawley, Diplomatic Correspondent, Yaroslav Lukiv BBC News
October 6, 2023
Image supply, Getty Images
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Narges Mohammadi acquired an award for her work combating towards ladies’s oppression and selling human rights.
Imprisoned Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize.
Announcing the choice, Norway’s Nobel Committee stated Ms Mohammadi, 51, was honored for her work in combating the oppression of girls in Iran.
Committee chairwoman Berit Ries Andersen stated her struggle comes at a “big private value.”
Ms Mohammadi is at the moment serving a 10-year sentence at Iran’s infamous Evin Prison within the capital Tehran.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry stated the award was “biased” and in keeping with the “interventionist and anti-Iranian insurance policies of some European international locations.”
US President Joe Biden has praised Mohammadi’s “unwavering braveness” and referred to as on the Iranian authorities to launch her, whereas French President Emmanuel Macron has described her as a “freedom fighter”.
At Friday’s ceremony in Oslo, Ms. Reese-Andersen stated the distinguished award was given to Mohammadi for “his struggle towards the oppression of girls in Iran and his struggle to advertise human rights and freedoms for all.” It was stated that it was given to Ms.
She started her speech with the phrases “Women, Life, Freedom,” a reference to the motto of current mass protests sweeping throughout Iran.
She added that the award acknowledges the lots of of 1000’s of Iranians who’ve demonstrated over the previous 12 months towards “the theocratic regime’s discriminatory and repressive insurance policies that focus on ladies.” She stated the motion was led by a brand new Nobel laureate. .
At the ceremony, Ries-Andersen referred to as on Iran to launch Mohammadi so he may attend the ceremony in December.
However, it appears extremely unlikely that activists will truly obtain the prize.
The United Nations stated the award highlighted “the braveness and willpower of Iranian ladies and the way they’re an inspiration to the world.”
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Ms Mohammadi reveals harrowing particulars of how ladies are abused in Tehran’s Evin Prison
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian who lived with Mr Mohammadi in Evin Prison till his launch in March 2022, stated he was completely happy for his pal’s dying.
“It brings me to tears. She has executed a lot for all of us at Evin. Narges is a girl who fought fearlessly towards ladies’s rights violations, solitary confinement and execution. She is an inspiration and a pillar for ladies in Iran’s judicial system.
“This award belongs to all Iranian ladies who’ve been and nonetheless are victims of injustice in Iran not directly.”
Mohammadi’s son, Ali Rahmani, who he hadn’t seen for eight years, was in school when he discovered.
He advised the BBC: “I used to be very completely happy and made my mom proud.
“It took me some time to just accept that. So at first, yesterday and the day earlier than, like at all times, I used to be simply very completely happy and pleased with my mom. This award belongs to the Iranian folks.” It’s due to the protests. ”
As nicely as his present jail time period, Mr. Mohammadi has been arrested 13 instances and convicted 5 instances, serving a complete of 31 years in jail. She was additionally sentenced to 154 lashes, however it’s unclear whether or not her sentence was ever carried out.
Last December, she wrote a letter to the BBC from jail, giving harrowing particulars of how Iranian ladies detained throughout protests have been being sexually and bodily abused.
She stated such assaults had develop into extra widespread throughout protests after the dying of 22-year-old Martha Amini in police custody in September 2022.
Riots then unfold throughout the nation, with calls for starting from extra freedoms to overthrowing the state.
Ms Mohammadi is Deputy Director of the Center for Human Rights Defenders.
In an interview with the BBC in 2020, Mohammadi defined why she is devoted to selling ladies’s rights in Iran.
“In my opinion, it is vitally essential and really heartwarming to help human rights actions and actions aimed toward reaching freedom and justice wherever on the planet, whether or not in Iran or some other nation. ” he stated.
Last 12 months, she was included within the BBC’s 100 Women, a high-profile checklist of 100 inspiring and influential ladies from world wide.
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Watch: Secret diaries of girls protesting in Iran