The Norwegian Nobel Committee criticized an Iranian court’s ruling on Thursday to give 2023 Peace Prize recipient Narges Mohammadi, who is currently detained, a another year in prison.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee chair, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, described it as “a flagrant violation of human rights and a travesty of justice”.
The 52-year-old Mohammadi has been incarcerated since November 2021 due to multiple prior convictions stemming from her advocacy against the mandatory hijab for women and the death penalty in Iran.
Her lawyer, Mostafa Nili, said on X on Tuesday: “Mohammadi was sentenced to one year in prison for propaganda against the system.”
The Nobel Committee said it “strongly condemns the harsh and unjust sentencing”.
According to Nili, the sentencing was a reaction to letters written to MPs in Sweden and Norway, requests for parliamentary election boycotts, and remarks made regarding student and journalist Dina Ghalibaf.
According to rights organizations, Ghalibaf was placed under arrest after she claimed on social media that she had been sexually assaulted and handcuffed by security personnel during an earlier detention at a metro station.
Since then, Ghalibaf has been set free.
On April 22, the Mizan Online website of the Iranian judiciary stated that Ghalibaf “had not been raped” and that she was facing charges for making a “false statement”.
Mohammadi refused to attend a trial hearing in Tehran earlier this month, and in March shared an audio message from prison in which she decried a “full-scale war against women” in the Islamic republic.
She was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize in October “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all”.
