Jailed Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi goes on hunger strike against medical, hijab rules

Veteran rights activist Mohammadi, 51, currently held in Evin Prison in the Iranian capital Tehran, was awarded the Nobel Prize in October "for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran".

"Narges Mohammadi, today, through a message from Evin Prison, has informed her family that she started a hunger strike several hours ago. We are concerned about Narges Mohammadi's physical condition and health," her family said in a statement on Monday.

In a post on X, (formerly Twitter), her family said she was only consuming water, sugar, and salt, and had stopped taking her medications.

Mohammadi is refusing under any circumstances to wear a hijab, the head covering that has been obligatory for women in public spaces since shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, Al Jazeera reported.

In response, the Iranian prison authorities, have refused to transfer Mohammadi -- who suffers from heart and lung conditions -- to a hospital outside Evin for treatment.

Her family said she was in "urgent" need of medical treatment outside prison.

"Narges went on a hunger strike today in protesting two things: The Islamic republic's policy of delaying and neglecting medical care for sick inmates...[and] the policy of 'mandatory hijab' for Iranian women," Al Jazeera quoted the statement.

"The Islamic republic is responsible for anything that happens to our beloved Narges," it added. "It's been a week now that they are refusing to give her the medical aid she needs."

Expressing strong support for Mohammadi, the Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, said the body was "deeply concerned" about the 2023 laureate's health.

"The requirement that female inmates must wear a hijab in order to be hospitalised is inhumane and morally unacceptable," she said.

"Narges Mohammadi's initiation of a hunger strike demonstrates the seriousness of the situation. The Norwegian Nobel Committee urges the Iranian authorities to provide Narges Mohammadi, and other female inmates, with whatever medical assistance they may need," Al Jazeera quoted Anderson as saying.

PEN International, a group promoting freedom of expression, meanwhile said it was "gravely concerned" about Mohammadi and "holds Iranian authorities fully responsible for putting her life at critical risk".

"Narges Mohammadi should not be in jail in the first place," it added, saying Iran should "immediately" release her and "urgently transfer her to a hospital to receive medical treatment".

Mohammadi was first arrested 22 years ago, after which she has spent much of the past two decades in and out of jail over her campaigning for human rights in Iran.

She has most recently been incarcerated since November 2021 and has not seen her children, now based in France, for eight years, Al Jazeera reported.

Mohammadi's Nobel Prize came in the wake of months-long protests across Iran triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, in September 2022, who had been arrested for allegedly flouting Iran's strict dress rules for women.

From prison itself, Mohammadi also expressed outrage over the death of teenager Armita Geravand, who suffered a head injury while in the Tehran Metro without a hijab, terming it a "murder". Geravand died in October after a month in a coma.

While Geravand's parents in state media footage called it a blood pressure issue, a fall or perhaps both contributed to their daughter's injury, activists alleged she may have been pushed or attacked by the morality police for not wearing a headscarf, which has been vehemently denied by the authorities, according to Al Jazeera.

Mohammadi, in a message expressing gratitude for the prize, which was read by her daughter and posted on the Nobel website, described the mandatory hijab as a "means of control and repression imposed on society and on which the continuation and survival of this authoritarian religious regime depends", Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)