Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Goes on Hunger Strike in Iranian Prison
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 1 year ago on
November 7, 2023

Share

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi began a hunger strike Monday over being blocked along with other inmates from getting medical care and to protest the country’s mandatory headscarves for women, a campaign advocating for the activist said.

The decision by Mohammadi, 51, increases pressure on Iran’s theocracy over her incarceration a month after she was awarded the Nobel for her years of activism despite a decades-long campaign by the government targeting her.

Other Incarcerated Activists

Meanwhile, another incarcerated activist, lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, reportedly needs medical care she has yet to receive. She was arrested while attending a funeral for a teenage girl who died under disputed circumstances in Tehran’s Metro while not wearing a hijab.

The Free Narges Mohammadi campaign, citing a statement from her family abroad, said she sent a message from Evin Prison on Monday and “informed her family that she started a hunger strike several hours ago.” It said Mohammadi and her lawyer for weeks have sought her transfer to a specialist hospital for heart and lung care.

Days earlier, Mohammadi’s family described her as suffering from blockages in three veins and lung pressure. Despite that, they said, prison officials refused to take Mohammadi to the hospital due to her refusal to wear the hijab.

“Narges went on a hunger strike today … protesting two things: The Islamic Republic’s policy of delaying and neglecting medical care for sick inmates, resulting in the loss of the health and lives of individuals. The policy of ‘death’ or ‘mandatory hijab’ for Iranian women,” the statement read.

It said the Islamic Republic “is responsible for anything that happens to our beloved Narges.” It later described Mohammadi as “only consuming water, sugar and salt” while refusing to take medicine.

Activist Groups Report

Activist groups also reported that Mohammadi had begun a hunger strike.

“Just last week, Mohammadi was denied access to medical treatment at an outside hospital due to her refusal to adhere to compulsory hijab requirements during the transfer to the medical facility,” the group Human Rights Activists in Iran said.

Iranian officials and its state-controlled television network did not acknowledge Mohammadi’s hunger strike, which is common with cases involving activists there. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment.

For observant Muslim women, the head covering is a sign of piety before God and modesty in front of men outside their families. In Iran, the hijab — and the all-encompassing black chador worn by some — has long been a political symbol as well, particularly after becoming mandatory in the years following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

While women in Iran hold jobs, academic positions and even government appointments, their lives are tightly controlled in part by laws like the mandatory hijab. Iran and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only countries to mandate that. Since the death last year of Mahsa Amini, however, more women are choosing not to wear it despite an increasing campaign by authorities targeting them and businesses serving them.

Mohammadi’s Activism

Mohammadi has kept up her activism despite numerous arrests by Iranian authorities and spending years behind bars.

She has remained a leading light for nationwide, women-led protests sparked by the death last year of the 22-year-old Amini in police custody that have grown into one of the most intense challenges to Iran’s theocratic government. Amini had been detained for allegedly not wearing her headscarf to the liking of authorities.

In October, teenager Armita Geravand suffered a head injury while in the Tehran Metro without a hijab. Geravand’s parents appeared in state media footage saying a blood pressure issue, a fall or perhaps both contributed to their daughter’s injury. Activists abroad have questioned whether Geravand may have been pushed or attacked for not wearing the hijab. She died weeks later.

Authorities arrested Sotoudeh, a 60-year-old human rights lawyer, while she attended Geravand’s funeral. PEN America, which advocates for free speech worldwide, said last week that “50 police and security personnel charged at the peaceful group, beating some and dragging others across gravestones as they were arrested.”

Sotoudeh was not wearing a hijab at the time of her arrest, and she suffered head injuries that have led to prolonged headaches, PEN America said.

“Her arrest was already an outrage, but there is no world in which violence against a writer and human rights advocate can be justified,” PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Nations at UN Climate Talks Agree on $300B a Year for Poor Countries in a Compromise Deal

DON'T MISS

What to Know About Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s Pick for Labor Secretary

DON'T MISS

What to Know About Scott Turner, Trump’s Pick for Housing Secretary

DON'T MISS

Trump Taps Investor Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary

DON'T MISS

NATO Head and Trump Meet in Florida for Talks on Global Security

DON'T MISS

Why Cranberry Sauce Is America’s Least Favorite Thanksgiving Dish – and 5 Creative Ways to Use It

DON'T MISS

‘Get Somebody Else to Do It’: Trump Resistance Encounters Fatigue

DON'T MISS

Anti-Vax Activists Dominate RFK Jr.’s HHS Transition Team

DON'T MISS

Wing ‘Wizard’ Harry Potter to Play for Australia’s Rugby Team. Let the Puns Begin.

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Man Arrested After Allegedly Threatening to Kill Middle School Girls, Staff

UP NEXT

What to Know About Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s Pick for Labor Secretary

UP NEXT

What to Know About Scott Turner, Trump’s Pick for Housing Secretary

UP NEXT

Trump Taps Investor Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary

UP NEXT

NATO Head and Trump Meet in Florida for Talks on Global Security

UP NEXT

Why Cranberry Sauce Is America’s Least Favorite Thanksgiving Dish – and 5 Creative Ways to Use It

UP NEXT

‘Get Somebody Else to Do It’: Trump Resistance Encounters Fatigue

UP NEXT

Anti-Vax Activists Dominate RFK Jr.’s HHS Transition Team

UP NEXT

Wing ‘Wizard’ Harry Potter to Play for Australia’s Rugby Team. Let the Puns Begin.

UP NEXT

Tulare County Man Arrested After Allegedly Threatening to Kill Middle School Girls, Staff

UP NEXT

Two Fresno, Clovis Trustee Races Remain Tight. Bond Measures Passing with Growing Margins

Trump Taps Investor Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary

11 hours ago

NATO Head and Trump Meet in Florida for Talks on Global Security

12 hours ago

Why Cranberry Sauce Is America’s Least Favorite Thanksgiving Dish – and 5 Creative Ways to Use It

15 hours ago

‘Get Somebody Else to Do It’: Trump Resistance Encounters Fatigue

15 hours ago

Anti-Vax Activists Dominate RFK Jr.’s HHS Transition Team

15 hours ago

Wing ‘Wizard’ Harry Potter to Play for Australia’s Rugby Team. Let the Puns Begin.

15 hours ago

Tulare County Man Arrested After Allegedly Threatening to Kill Middle School Girls, Staff

1 day ago

Two Fresno, Clovis Trustee Races Remain Tight. Bond Measures Passing with Growing Margins

1 day ago

Richardson Close to Cementing Northeast Fresno Council Race

1 day ago

Visalia Motorcyclist Killed in Collision on Walnut Avenue

1 day ago

Nations at UN Climate Talks Agree on $300B a Year for Poor Countries in a Compromise Deal

BAKU, Azerbaijan — United Nations climate talks adopted a deal to inject at least $300 billion annually in humanity’s fight against cl...

4 hours ago

4 hours ago

Nations at UN Climate Talks Agree on $300B a Year for Poor Countries in a Compromise Deal

6 hours ago

What to Know About Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s Pick for Labor Secretary

11 hours ago

What to Know About Scott Turner, Trump’s Pick for Housing Secretary

11 hours ago

Trump Taps Investor Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary

12 hours ago

NATO Head and Trump Meet in Florida for Talks on Global Security

15 hours ago

Why Cranberry Sauce Is America’s Least Favorite Thanksgiving Dish – and 5 Creative Ways to Use It

15 hours ago

‘Get Somebody Else to Do It’: Trump Resistance Encounters Fatigue

15 hours ago

Anti-Vax Activists Dominate RFK Jr.’s HHS Transition Team

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend