Iran jails Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi for an extra six months

Iranian authorities have added six months to the prison sentence of rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, according to a group campaigning for her rekease.

Ms Mohammadi was sentenced on 19 October, charged with “disobeying and resisting orders” in prison, the Free Narges Coalition said in a statement.

She is being held at Iran's notorious Evin Prison, which houses political prisoners and those with Western ties.

After the execution of a political prisoner in the women’s ward of the prison in August, Ms Mohammadi staged a protest, the organisation said, leading to her additional prosecution.

Mohammadi was already serving a 30-month sentence, to which 15 more months were added in January. Iran's government has not acknowledged her additional sentencing.

Ms Mohammadi, 52, has been arrested and imprisoned repeatedly since 1998 for her human rights advocacy work, including promoting civil disobedience against the mandatory use of the hijab. In 2016, she was sentenced to 16 years for campaigning against the death penalty. She was released in 2020, before again being imprisoned in 2021. She has since reported on the abuse and solitary confinement of women in prison.

Seen as a beacon of hope for women-led protests, Ms Mohammadi was a figurehead – despite being in prison at the time – for the protests folllowing the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody after she was detained for allegedly not wearing her headscarf in a way the authorities deemed appropriate.

The mass protests lasted months and posed one of most significant and highly publicised threats to Iran’s theocratic regime in years.

She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023, for the “courageous fight for freedom and human rights over three decades, and for taking leadership when a new wave of protests swept over Iran”.

As the second Iranian woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Ms Mohammadi followed in the footsteps of Shirin Ebadi, who also became the first Muslim to win the award when she was honoured for her advocacy for women’s, children’s and refugee rights. Ms Mohammadi is also the 19th woman in total to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

The honour provoked anger within the Iranian government, after they had targeted her for decades in a campaign to minimise her influence. It was condemned by Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mohammadi was already serving a 30-month sentence, to which 15 more months were added in January. Iran‘s government has not acknowledged her additional sentencing.

The Free Narges Coalition said Ms Mohammadi’s health has deteriorated significantly during her time behind bars. She is suffering from heart disease, the statement said.

Iran has not commented on the latest sentencing.

Associated Press contributed to this report