Narges Mohammadi, a jailed Iranian human rights activist, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, with the Norwegian Nobel Committee citing her ¡°fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.¡±
Mohammadi has been imprisoned for most of the past two decades and is currently serving a 10-year sentence.
In 2011, she was arrested for the first time and was imprisoned for assisting incarcerated activists along with their families.
Mohammadi, 51, was born in Zanjan, Iran, and was already an advocate for women¡¯s rights and equality during her time as a physics student in the 1990s. After graduation, she juggled working as an engineer and a columnist for a variety of progressive newspapers.
¡°This recognition stands as a testament to Narges¡¯s unwavering dedication and marks a significant achievement for all Iranians, particularly the women who have steadfastly advocated for justice, peace, and equality in Iran,¡± her family posted through her official Instagram account.
The freedom fighter has been arrested by the regime in Iran a total of 13 times, convicted five times and sentenced to 31 years in prison and 154 lashes. She is widely known for her uncompromising fight against solitary confinement and the death penalty.
She is the deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center ¡ª a nongovernmental organization under the leadership of 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi.
The committee noted that this year¡¯s prize represents the hundreds of thousands of people who protested over the last year against the Iranian regime¡¯s policies relating to the discrimination and oppression of women.
When asked about the peace prize¡¯s award ceremony set for December, Berit Reiss-Andersen, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, called for Mohammadi¡¯s release.
¡°If the Iranian authorities make the right decision, they will release her,¡± she said.
Before Mohammadi, have received the nod for the Nobel Peace Prize, on a list with 92 men.
Last year, the peace prize was collectively awarded to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski of Belarus, Russian human rights group Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties.
The 2021 Peace Prize went to journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and the United States and Russia¡¯s Dmitry Muratov. They were recognized for their efforts to protect free speech, which the award committee noted was under threat globally.
Earlier this week, the awards for medicine, physics, chemistry and literature were handed out. The prize for economic sciences will be announced on Monday.
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