NOBEL PRIZE OF PEACE

THE IRANNIAN ACTIVIST

NARGES MOHAMMADI AWARDED

This protest movement, triggered by the tragic death of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian Kurd who died in detention following her arrest for a poorly worn veil by the morality police, was violently repressed.

In a recent written interview, Narges Mohammadi claimed that this movement had accelerated the process towards democracy, freedom and equality by weakening the foundations of despotic religious government.

Presentment or chance? Two months before the start of the protests on September 16, 2022, Narges Mohammadi published a text on her Instagram account managed by her family, denouncing the obligation to wear the hijab.

“In this authoritarian regime, women's voices are muffled, women's hair is hidden (…) I, Narges Mohammadi (…) declare that I will not accept the compulsory hijab,” she proclaimed. Two months later, videos showing women burning their hijabs in Iran went viral.

Originally from Zanjan, in the northwest of Iran and born in 1972, Narges Mohammadi studied physics before becoming an engineer.

At the same time, she became involved in journalism with reformist newspapers. In the early 2000s, she joined the Center for Human Rights Defenders (of which she is now vice-president), founded by Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2003. She is an activist actively for the abolition of the death penalty.

“Narges had the possibility of leaving the country, but she always refused (…), she became the voice of the voiceless.

Even in prison, she does not forget her responsibilities and informs about the situation of prisoners,” confides Reza Moini, an Iranian human rights activist based in Paris who knows her well.

The UN responded to this distinction by calling for the release of Narges Mohammadi and all human rights defenders imprisoned in Iran. "

The case of Narges Mohammadi illustrates the enormous risks women take to defend the rights of all Iranians. We demand the release of Narges Mohammadi and all human rights defenders imprisoned in Iran,” the UN Human Rights Office said.