The 2023 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Narges Mohammadi for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced in Oslo on Friday.
Mohammadi’s name has become synonymous with the fight for human rights in Iran – a battle that has cost her almost everything.
“Altogether, the regime has arrested her 13 times, convicted her five times, and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in prison, and 154 lashes,” Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Berit Reiss-Andersen said at the announcement ceremony.
“Ms. Mohammadi is still in prison as I speak,” Reiss-Andersen added.
But not even the dark cells of Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison have crushed her powerful voice.
In an audio recording from inside Evin, shared with CNN ahead of Friday’s announcement, Mohammadi, 51, is heard leading the chants of “woman, life, freedom” – the slogan of the uprising sparked last year by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police.
Amini was arrested for allegedly not wearing her headscarf properly.
The recording is interrupted by a brief automated message – “This is a phone call from Evin Prison” – as the women are heard singing a Farsi rendition of Bella Ciao, the 19th-century Italian folk song that became a resistance anthem against Fascists and has been adopted by Iran’s freedom movement.
“This period was and still is the era of greatest protest in this prison,” Mohammadi told CNN in written responses to questions submitted through intermediaries.
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Henrik Urdal, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, described Mohammadi’s win as “a tremendous achievement for women’s rights in Iran”.
“Women in the country have been fighting for equality and freedom for generations, and the death of Mahsa Amini became a catalyst against oppression and violence,” Urdal said in a statement to CNN.
“Today’s laureate, unfairly jailed in Tehran, sends a powerful message to the leaders of Iran that women’s rights are fundamental everywhere in the world,” he said.
Mohammadi’s recognition comes after a year of huge upheaval in Iran, sparked by the death of Amini, which swelled into nationwide protests lasting months.
Reiss-Andersen described the unrest as “the largest political demonstrations against Iran’s theocratic regime since it came to power in 1979.”
They were met by a brutal government crackdown.
“More than 500 demonstrators were killed. Thousands were injured, including many who were blinded by rubber bullets fired by the police. At least 20,000 people were arrested and held in custody,” said Reiss-Andersen.
Last month marked the one-year anniversary of Amini’s death. Video obtained by CNN showed demonstrations throughout multiple cities in Iran, including capital city Tehran, Mashad, Ahvaz, Lahijan, Arak, and the Kurdish city of Senandaj.
Many of the protesters shouted “Woman, Life, Freedom,” and others chanted slogans against Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
