Topic analysis

More than 110 Nobel laureates call on Iran to release gravely ill activist Narges Mohammadi

As human rights advocate is treated in Tehran hospital after transfer from Zanjan prison, prize winners demand her freedom More than 110 Nobel laureates have called for the immediate and unconditional release of Narges Mohammadi, the imprisoned Iranian human rights activist and Nobel peace prize laureate, after she was transferred to hospital amid concerns over her rapidly deteriorating health. In a statement released on Tuesday, 112 Nobel laureates urged the Iranian authorities and the international community to act “without delay” to secure Mohammadi’s release and ensure her continued access to medical treatment. Mohammadi, who was awarded the 2023 Nobel peace prize for decades of campaigning for women’s rights in Iran was transferred by ambulance in a critical medical condition to Tehran’s Pars hospital on 10 May for specialised treatment. The human rights activist has experienced severe weight loss, unstable blood pressure and serious cardiac symptoms while in detention, and was found unconscious in her cell after a possible heart attack. Mohammadi’s transfer to hospital is only a temporary respite and her representatives fear she will be returned to prison if her condition improves. The Nobel laureates called for her immediate release and for all charges against her to be dropped. “Medical experts warn that her life may be at imminent risk,” they said in a joint statement, adding that she had been denied specialised medical care for months while imprisoned. The signatories included 26 Nobel laureates in chemistry, 12 in economics, five in literature, 29 in medicine, 11 peace laureates and 29 in physics, and include the authors Annie Ernaux and JM Coetzee. Jody Williams, the US anti-landmine activist who was awarded the peace prize in 1997, said Mohammadi “should never have been brought to the brink of death”. “No one, anywhere, should be imprisoned for peaceful protest or for defending human rights,” Williams said. The Yemeni journalist and 2011 Nobel laureate Tawakkol Karman described Mohammadi as “the fearless voice of women resisting oppression and demanding freedom”. “No prison can silence the struggle for dignity and justice. Narges must be released, and the world must continue to stand with the women of Iran,” Karman said. Ali Rahmani, Mohammadi’s Paris-based son, said: “The temporary suspension of my mother’s sentence is simply not enough. After years of imprisonment, solitary confinement and systematic medical neglect, her life still hangs by a thread. “We do not just want her out of a cell for a few days; we demand a permanent end to this judicial persecution. My mom requires unconditional freedom and long-term, specialised care without the shadow of a return to the environment that nearly killed her.” Mohammadi has been repeatedly detained by Iranian authorities for her activism since first being arrested in 1998 , including her campaigns against the death penalty and Iran’s mandatory hijab laws. She has been sentenced to more than 44 years in prison and 154 lashes over multiple sentences.