Nobel laureate goes on hunger strike during award ceremony
Narges Mohammadi has been campaigning for women's rights and freedom of expression in Iran for decades. This is why she has been in prison on and off since 1998. While family members are allowed to accept her Nobel Prize in Oslo, she starts a hunger strike in prison.
This year's winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, the imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, is once again going on hunger strike for the award ceremony. The 51-year-old wants to show "solidarity with the Baha'i religious minority", her brother Hamidreza Mohammadi and her husband Taghi Rahmani told journalists in the Norwegian capital Oslo.
Rahmani quoted his wife as saying: "I will start my hunger strike on the day I am awarded the prize, maybe the world will hear more about it then." The Baha'i religious community is the largest religious minority in Iran. Its followers have long been subjected to political persecution and discrimination in Iran.
The leadership in Tehran regards the Bahai as heretics and accuses them of being "spies" of Israel. Around 300,000 of the seven million Bahai worldwide live in predominantly Shiite Iran. Among other things, they advocate equal rights for men and women.
Mohammadi has been fighting for women's rights in Iran for decades
Mohammadi had already gone on hunger strike in November because she had refused to cover her hair with a headscarf for the transfer from prison to hospital. Two days later, she said she was taken to hospital without a headscarf and then broke off her hunger strike. She needed urgent treatment for heart problems. She was initially denied transportation from prison to hospital because she did not want to wear the headscarf.
Mohammadi plays a central role in the fight for women's rights and freedom of expression in her country. She has been campaigning against the headscarf requirement and the death penalty in Iran for decades. She has been repeatedly imprisoned and flogged for this since 1998. Since November 2021, she has been imprisoned in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison for "propaganda against the state". Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at the beginning of October for her work. Her daughter Kiana, who fled to France with her family, and her twin brother Ali will receive the prize on her behalf in Oslo on Sunday
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Despite being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Narges Mohammadi continues to advocate for women's rights and the rights of the Baha'i religious minority in Iran by initiating a hunger strike in prison. Her actions have earned her recognition as an international figure in the fight for women's rights and freedom of expression, with her husband and daughter receiving the Nobel Prize on her behalf in Oslo. Unfortunately, Narges Mohammadi's efforts have led to her being imprisoned multiple times in Iran, highlighting the ongoing challenges confronting women's rights activists in the country.
Source: www.ntv.de
