Narges Mohammadi’s latest sentence adds to a decades-long battle for human rights that has cost her freedom and her family
The walls of an Iranian prison cell have become all too familiar to Narges Mohammadi. On Sunday, they closed in a little tighter when an Iranian court handed the Nobel Peace Prize winner a fresh six year sentence another chapter in a story of courage that has spanned a quarter century, according to NDTV.
“She has been sentenced to six years in prison for gathering and collusion to commit crimes,” her lawyer Mostafa Nili announced. The 53 year old activist also received a two year travel ban, an additional 18 months for propaganda activities, and a two year exile to Khosf, a remote city in eastern Iran.
Under Iranian law, these sentences run concurrently, she’ll serve the longest term, not the combined total. Still, for a woman whose health is fragile, the news carries weight beyond numbers.
Nili expressed hope that authorities might grant temporary release for medical treatment. The verdict can be appealed, though appeals in Iran’s judicial system often feel like whispers against a storm.
Mohammadi’s crime? Speaking truth to power. For over 25 years, she has campaigned against Iran’s use of the death penalty and mandatory hijab laws. Her activism has transformed her life into a revolving door of courtrooms and cells.
The cost has been staggering. She has spent most of the past decade imprisoned, separated from her twin children who live in Paris. She hasn’t seen them since 2015, a nearly decade long absence no parent should endure.
Just weeks ago in December 2024, she tasted brief freedom, a three week medical release following surgery to remove a tumor. Then the cell door closed again.
Yet silence isn’t in her nature. Even behind prison walls, Mohammadi stages protests in exercise yards and launches hunger strikes, her defiance undiminished.
In 2023, she won the Nobel Peace Prize for her campaign against capital punishment. Her children traveled to Oslo to accept the honor she couldn’t receive a bittersweet moment capturing her impossible choice between family and freedom.
Iran executes more people annually than any nation except China, according to Amnesty International. Mohammadi refuses to let the world forget.
