Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi celebrates achievement behind bars

Iranian rights activist Narges Mohammadi celebrated her historic achievement in prison after she was announced as this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, her family said on Saturday.

"Narges learned she had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday afternoon (October 6) from messages sent from the men's unit, where they have easier access to telephones on Fridays," family members told AFP

Her family members added: "Narges and her cellmates erupted in joy and celebrated this victory in their cell."

On October 6, the 51-year-old was recognised by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo for "her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all."

Following the announcement, Mohammadi was quoted by The New York Times as saying that she would never stop striving for democracy and equality, even if that meant staying in prison. 

“I will never stop striving for the realisation of democracy, freedom, and equality,” she said. “Standing alongside the brave mothers of Iran...I will continue to fight against the relentless discrimination, tyranny, and gender-based oppression by the oppressive religious government until the liberation of women,” her statement read.

Prominent Iranian activist Masih Alinejad wrote that recognition for "brave" Mohammadi was "very bittersweet for Iranians," noting that "every day in Iran women are being harassed and bullied by morality police."

Mohammadi's campaign for freedom of expression and women's rights has prompted her arrest 13 times, her conviction five times, and brings her sentence to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes, Reuters reported.

She is serving multiple sentences in Tehran's Evin Prison amounting to about 12 years' imprisonment — she has not seen her family in more than eight years — on charges that include spreading propaganda against the state.

“Although the years of her absence can never be compensated for us, the reality is that the honour of recognizing Narges’s efforts for peace is a source of solace for our indescribable suffering,” a family statement said.

“For us, who know that the Nobel Peace Prize will aid her in achieving her goals, this day is a blessed day,” it added.

Mohammadi's husband, Taghi Rahmani, in an interview with RFE/RL's Radio Farda, said that the Nobel announcement “opens a window for the fight for democracy, for human rights, civil equality.

“I think this is important. It’s not just a prize for Narges. It brings attention to resistance that is ongoing in Iran for freedom, democracy, and civil equality," he added.

First arrested 22 years ago, Mohammadi spent much of the past two decades in and out of jail over her unstinting campaigning for human rights in Iran. She has most recently been incarcerated since November 2021.

— With additional input from Reuters