Jailed Iranian women’s rights advocate, Narges Mohammadi has won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize.
The chair of the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize comittee, Berit Reiss-Andersen announced the prize on friday in Oslo, Norway.
According to her, the award to Mohammadi followed a long tradition in which the Norwegian nobel committee has awarded the peace prize to those working to advance social justice, human rights and democracy.
“This prize is first and foremost a recognition of the very important work of a whole movement in Iran with its undisputed leader, Nargis Mohammadi. The impact of the prize is not for the Nobel committee to decide upon. We hope that it is an encouragement to continue the work in whichever form this movement finds to be fitting”, she said.
Reiss-Andersen further said Mohammadi has been imprisoned 13 times and convicted five times, adding that in total, she has been sentenced to 31 years in prison.
“What the government may not understand is that the more of us they lock up, the stronger we become”, she stated
She noted that this years peace prize recognises the hundreds of thousands of people who in the preceeding year have demonstrated against the theocratic regime of discrimination and oppression targeting women.
She maintained that only by embracing equal rights for all can the world achieve a fraternity between nations that Afred Nobel sought to promote.
Narges Mohammadi is the 19th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize and the second Iranian woman, after human rights activist Shirin Ebadi won the award in 2003.
Mohammadi was behind bars for the recent protests over the death of 22-years-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. That sparked one of the most intense challenges ever to Iran’s theocracy. More than 500 people were killed in a heavy security crackdown while over 22,000 others were arrested.
From behind bars, Mohammadi contributed an opinion piece for The New York Times.
Mohammadi, 51, has done her work despite facing numerous arrests and spending years behind bars for her activism.
