2023 Nobel Peace Prize: Narges Mohammadi | The Iranian activist who continues to fight from behind the bars Premium

The 2023 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian human rights activist and women’s advocate, following a year of widespread protests in Iran triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini.

In 1998, Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi was jailed by the country’s theocratic authorities for the first time while protesting the rampant imprisonment of voices critical of the administration. In 2023, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, while still in prison.

Known for campaigning for women’s rights and the abolition of the death penalty, Ms. Mohammadi was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday. “Ms. Mohammadi is a woman, a human rights advocate, and a freedom fighter. This year’s Peace prize also recognises the hundreds of thousands of people who, in the preceding year, have demonstrated against the theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women,” the committee said in a statement.

The prize comes after a tumultuous year of widespread protests in Iran triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who died in the custody of the country’s morality police. Ms. Amini had been detained for allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely in violation of laws that require women in public to wear the Islamic headscarf. Her death set off protests across multiple Iranian cities with young women marching in the streets and publicly exposing and cutting off their hair, followed by a brutal government crackdown.

Ms. Mohammadi is a globally prominent figure, recognised for her efforts in advocating for women’s rights, prisoners’ rights, and freedom of expression in what can arguably be called one of the world’s most challenging environments for human rights.

A qualified engineer with a degree in physics, Ms. Mohammadi established her roots in the field of activism early on in life. She began advocating for women’s and students’ rights by writing articles while in college, and was arrested twice in university meetings. She has worked as a journalist with platforms like Payaam-e-Hajar, a periodical dedicated to women’s issues (which was shut down in 2000). A passionate mountain climber, Ms. Mohammadi was barred from participating in official expeditions because of her political views.

The Nobel laureate’s long and harrowing tryst with the Iranian prison system is emblematic of how the country’s judiciary stifles dissent. According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the Iranian regime has “arrested her 13 times, convicted her five times, and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes”. On multiple occasions, she has been held at Evin Prison, a facility in Tehran notorious for prisoner abuse.

In 2003, Ms. Mohammadi joined the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) and worked closely with the founder Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian activist who was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 2003 for promoting democracy and rights of women, children, and refugees in the country. Ms. Ebadi lives in exile in the U.K.