Narges Mohammadi, Iranian activist and Nobel peace prize winner, to go on new hunger strike as prize is awarded

Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi will go on a brand new starvation strike from her jail cell in Iran because the prize is awarded in Oslo on Sunday in her absence, her household stated Saturday.

Mohammadi, who has campaigned towards the obligatory carrying of the hijab and the dying penalty in Iran, will go on starvation strike “in solidarity” with the Baha’i non secular minority, her brother and husband instructed a press convention within the Norwegian capital on the eve of the Nobel award ceremony.

“She will not be right here with us as we speak, she is in jail and she or he can be on a starvation strike in solidarity with a non secular minority however we really feel her presence right here,” her youthful brother, Hamidreza Mohammadi, stated in a short opening assertion.

The 51-year-old activist’s husband, Taghi Rahmani, went on to clarify that the strike was a gesture of solidarity with the Baha’i non secular minority, two of whose jailed main figures, Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, have began refusing meals.

“She stated that ‘I’ll begin my starvation strike on the day that I’m being granted this prize, maybe then the world will hear extra about it’,” he defined.

Iran’s largest non secular minority, the Baha’i group is the goal of discrimination in lots of areas of society, in line with its representatives.

Mohammadi already went on a starvation strike for a number of days firstly of November to acquire the suitable to be transferred to hospital with out protecting her head.

She was awarded the Nobel prize in October “for her combat towards the oppression of ladies in Iran”.

Arrested 13 occasions, sentenced 5 occasions to a complete of 31 years in jail and 154 lashes, Mohammadi has spent a lot of the previous twenty years out and in of jail.

Narges Mohammadi is among the girls spearheading the “Girl, Life, Freedom” rebellion, which included months-long protests throughout Iran triggered by the September 2022 dying in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, who had been arrested for allegedly flouting the Islamic republic’s strict gown guidelines for girls.

Mahsa Amini’s mother and father and brother — who have been resulting from obtain the Sakharov Prize, awarded posthumously to the younger lady at a parallel ceremony in France on Sunday — have been banned from leaving Iran, their lawyer in France instructed AFP on Saturday.

Detained since 2021 in Tehran’s Evin jail, Mohammadi can be represented on the Oslo ceremony by her 17-year-old twin kids, Ali and Kiana, who’ve been dwelling in exile in France since 2015 and haven’t seen their mom for nearly 9 years.

They each do not know if they are going to ever see her alive once more, however whereas Ali has religion, Kiana is uncertain.

“The reason for ‘Girl, Life, Freedom’, freedom typically and democracy are value sacrificing your self for and giving your life for, as a result of ultimately these three issues are priceless”, Kiana instructed reporters.

“As for seeing her once more someday, personally I am moderately pessimistic,” she added, noting that the added consideration of her mom receiving the Nobel prize would possible make the Iranian authorities curtail her freedom additional.

“Perhaps I will see her in 30 or 40 years, but when not, I do not suppose I will ever see her once more, however that is OK as a result of my mom will all the time be with me in my coronary heart and with my household”.

Then again, Ali stated he was “very, very optimistic”, even when it in all probability will not occur “in two, 5 or ten years”.

“I imagine in our victory”, he asserted, earlier than quoting his mom: “victory will not be simple however it’s sure”.

On Sunday, on the Nobel prize ceremony in Oslo, attended by the Norwegian royal household and different dignitaries, the twins will learn a speech that their mom managed to smuggle out of her jail cell.

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