Tehran, Iran – An organization supporting Iranian activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi said that Iranian authorities sentenced her to seven and a half years in prison after her arrest on December 12 for her human rights activism and criticism of the government.
The organization explained that Mohammadi, 53, ended a week-long hunger strike today
and informed her lawyer, Mostafa Nili, in a brief phone call from prison that the court issued the verdict on Saturday.
The sentence includes six years for assembly and conspiracy against national security,
one and a half years for anti-government propaganda, two years of forced residence in the city of Khosf, and a two-year travel ban.
The verdict comes amid Tehran’s ongoing crackdown on dissent,
which intensified during anti-government protests that began in late December and lasted three weeks.
Iranian media reported that Mohammadi was arrested after attending
a memorial service for lawyer Khosrow Ali Kordi in the northeastern city of Mashhad,
where she was accused of making “provocative” remarks, inciting attendees to “chant slogans contrary to norms,” and “disturbing the peace.”
Narges Mohammadi has spent decades in human rights activism, focusing on women’s rights and opposing the death penalty in Iran.
She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 while imprisoned, in recognition of her contributions to human rights.
The activist is currently being held in a detention center in Mashhad, after weeks of isolation
and complete cutoff from the outside world, before authorities allowed her a brief phone call with her lawyer.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment on the verdict.
Mohammadi’s case is one of the most prominent international cases highlighting the human rights situation in Iran
and raising international concerns about the crackdown on civil and human rights activists.
