Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has been sentenced to an additional seven-and-a-half years in prison by an Iranian court in the north-eastern city of Mashhad, adding to the multiple jail terms she is already serving.
Her lawyer, Mostafa Nili, said the court sentenced her to six years in prison on the charge of gathering and collusion to commit crimes against national security, and an additional one-and-a-half-year term for propaganda-related charges.
In addition, the court has imposed a two-year ban on leaving the country.
Who is Narges Mohammadi?
Born in 1972, Mohammadi is one of Iran's most prominent human rights activists. She serves as the vice president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), a rights body founded and led by Shirin Ebadi, Iran's first Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
She studied physics at Qazvin International University and became an engineer. During her university years, she wrote articles in her student newspaper in support of women's rights. She was arrested twice because she was part of the political student group Tashakkol Daaneshjuyi Roshangaraan.
Mohammadi's Work
After completing her education, Mohammadi pursued a career in journalism, working with several reformist newspapers and published a book of political essays titled The Reforms, the Strategy and the Tactics and White Torture, a two-volume book series that investigates the psychological and physical abuse of prisoners in Iranian jails.
She was elected as the President of the Executive Committee of the National Council of Peace in Iran in September 2008.
Mohammadi's Arrests
She has spent most of her life in prison for her human rights work. In 2009, the government confiscated her passport, and the next year she was arrested at her home without a warrant. She was held for several weeks before being released on bail in July 2010, according to Human Rights Commission.
In 2011, the court convicted her on multiple charges, including acting against national security, membership of the DHRC and propaganda against the regime. The court initially sentenced Mohammadi to a total of 11 years in prison. However, after an appeal, the sentence was reduced to six years. On April 21, 2012, she was summoned to Evin Prison to begin serving her term, but was released on bail in July 2012 on medical grounds.
In 2014, she spoke about Evin Prison's harsh and inhumane conditions in a public speech, which later went viral on social media. Soon after, new cases were filed against her, including spreading propaganda against the system and gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security. In May 2015, she was arrested again and sentenced to a total of 16 years in prison. In 2020, she was convicted again on multiple charges.
While still imprisoned, in January 2022, Mohammadi received another sentence, this time of eight years in prison and 70 lashes. In February 2022, Mohammadi was granted a temporary medical release to undergo heart surgery. She returned to prison on April 12, 2022.
She has already spent more than a decade of her life in prison. According to the Narges Foundation, the latest court ruling has pushed the total prison time ordered against her to 44 years.
Nobel Peace Prize
On October 6, 2023, Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her long-standing work in support of women's rights and human rights in Iran.
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