Imprisoned Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Winner Mohammadi is On Hunger Strike

 

Image Source: Al-Jazeera

Concerned about his physical and mental health, Mohammadi's family say they hold the government responsible for his condition

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nargis Mohammadi has started a hunger strike against the ban on medical care for her and other prisoners in her Iranian prison, as well as the ban on women wearing the hijab in Iran, according to her family.

Veteran rights activist Mohammadi, 51, who is currently incarcerated in Avon Prison in the Iranian capital, Tehran, was awarded the Nobel Prize in October "for her struggle against the oppression of women in Iran."

"Nargis Mohammadi today informed her family through a message from Evan Jail that she had started her hunger strike several hours ago. We are concerned about Nargis Mohammadi's physical condition and health," her family said in a statement on Monday.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, her family said she was eating only water, sugar and salt, and had stopped taking her medication.

Mohammedans refuse to wear the hijab under any circumstances, the head covering that has been mandatory for women in public since shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

Jail authorities have responded by refusing to transfer Mohammadi, who is suffering from heart and lung problems, to a hospital outside Avon for treatment.

His family said he was in "urgent" need of medical treatment outside of prison.

"Nargis went on hunger strike today to protest two things: the Islamic Republic's policy of delaying and ignoring medical care for sick prisoners... [and] for Iranian women," the statement said. 'Mandatory Hijab' policy," the statement said.

"The Islamic Republic is responsible for whatever happens to our beloved Nargis," it added. "It's been a week now that they're refusing to give him the medical attention he needs."

'Morally Unacceptable'

In a strong statement of support for Mohammadi, the head of Norway's Nobel committee, Barrett Rees-Andersen, said the body was "deeply concerned" about the health of the 2023 laureate.

He said that the requirement of women prisoners to wear hijab for admission to the hospital is inhumane and morally unacceptable.

The start of Nargis Mohammadi's hunger strike shows the seriousness of the situation. The Norwegian Nobel Committee urges the Iranian authorities to provide Nargis Mohammadi and other female prisoners with whatever medical assistance they require.

Meanwhile, the group promoting freedom of expression PEN International said it was "deeply concerned" about Mohammadi and "holds the Iranian authorities fully responsible for putting his life in serious danger".

"Nargis Mohammadi should not be in jail in the first place," it said, adding that Iran should "immediately" release her and "immediately transfer her to a hospital for medical treatment".

'Means of Coercion'

First arrested 22 years ago, Mohammadi has spent much of the past two decades in and out of prison campaigning for human rights in Iran.

He has been imprisoned since November 2021 and has not seen his children, who now live in France, for eight years.

Mohammadi's Nobel prize comes after months of protests across Iran over the September 2022 death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was allegedly arrested for violating Iran's strict dress code for women. He was arrested on the charge.

From prison, Mohammadi also expressed outrage over what he described as the "murder" of teenager Ermita Giravand, who was hit on the head without a hijab in the Tehran metro.

While Giravand's parents appeared in official media footage saying that a blood pressure problem, a fall or perhaps both contributed to their daughter's injury, activists alleged that she may not have been given a headscarf by ethics police. Pushed or assaulted for wearing, which is strongly denied. 

She died in October after being in a coma for a Month.

In a message of gratitude for the prize, which was read by her daughter and posted on the Nobel website, Mohammadi called the compulsory hijab "a means of control and repression imposed on society and on which the continuation of this authoritarian religious and Survival. The system depends".

(Courtesy: Al-Jazeera)