Oslo [Norway], December 13 (ANI): The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday (local time) strongly condemned the “brutal arrest” of Narges Mohammadi, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and prominent Iranian human rights activist, calling on Iranian authorities to clarify her whereabouts, ensure her safety, and release her immediately.
In a statement, the Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, said Mohammadi was detained alongside several other activists and described her as a staunch defender of human rights, freedom of expression, and democratic participation in Iran. He expressed the Committee’s solidarity with her and others working peacefully for human rights in the country.
“The Norwegian Nobel Committee is deeply concerned by today’s brutal arrest of Narges Mohammadi alongside a number of other activists. Ms. Mohammadi – the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate – is a staunch defender of human rights, freedom of expression and democratic participation in Iran. The Norwegian Nobel Committee calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately clarify Mohammadi’s whereabouts, ensure her safety and integrity, and to release her without conditions. The Committee stands in solidarity with Narges Mohammadi and all those in Iran who work peacefully for human rights, the rule of law, and freedom of expression,” the statement said.
The Committee also highlighted the timing of the arrest, noting it coincides with the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and pointing to close collaboration between the Iranian and Venezuelan regimes.
Earlier, the Paris-based Narges Mohammadi Foundation said Iranian authorities arrested Mohammadi violently on Friday during a memorial ceremony for Khosrow Alikordi, a lawyer recently found dead in his office. The foundation, citing Mohammadi’s brother, Mehdi, reported she was taken into custody in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city.
Mohammadi is one of Iran’s most prominent human rights defenders, internationally recognized for her advocacy and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 for her efforts to promote democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. She has spent much of the past two decades in Tehran’s Evin Prison, known for holding critics of the Iranian regime.
In December 2024, Iranian authorities temporarily suspended her prison sentence for three weeks to allow recovery from November surgery, during which part of her lower right leg was removed after doctors found a lesion suspected to be cancerous. Mohammadi was expected to return to prison but remained on furlough until her arrest on Friday, the foundation said.
According to the Narges Mohammadi Foundation, she has been sentenced to multiple prison terms totalling 36 years on charges including acting against national security and spreading propaganda. Despite imprisonment and health challenges, Mohammadi has continued human rights advocacy over the past year, speaking internationally and campaigning for justice and freedom in Iran.
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