Narges Mohammadi was arrested by the Iranian authorities in 2015 (French)

Narges Mohammadi is an engineer, journalist, and human rights activist from Iran. She served as Vice President of the Center for Human Rights Defenders, called for the ban of the death penalty, and was famous for defending women’s rights.

The Iranian judiciary sentenced her to 31 years in prison in various sentences and multiple cases, and on October 6, 2023, she won the Nobel Peace Prize, making her the second Iranian woman to win it and the 19th woman in its history.

Birth and upbringing

Narges Karim Mohammadi was born on April 21, 1972 in the city of Zanjan, 298 kilometers northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

In the same city, Bawakir received her education, and lived her childhood under the influence of the signs of revolution against the monarchy in Iran in 1979.

She grew up with the Iranian revolution, and was influenced by her family, which embraced the thought of “enlightenment and revolution,” so she grew up with a mentality of struggle, struggle, and seizing rights.

Narges comes from a middle-class family and a social environment that participated strongly in the revolution, and her uncle was among those who were sentenced to prison due to his participation in the demonstrations.

She married Batqi Rahmani, a journalist who spent 14 years in Iranian prisons, and they have twins, Kiana and Ali.

Study and training

Narges Mohammadi continued her primary and secondary education between the city of Karaj, near the capital, Tehran, and Iranian Kurdistan. After completing her secondary studies, she joined Imam Khomeini International University in Qazvin, and studied nuclear physics until she graduated as an engineer.

During her university education, she regularly attended philosophy, thought, and politics classes that were organized secretly and attended by a small number of people. She also learned to write in newspapers, participated in civil society associations, and was interested in advocating for students and defending their rights.

Narges Mohammadi grew up with the revolution in 1979 and was influenced by her family, which embraced the thought of “enlightenment and revolution” (French)

Struggle and human rights experience

She began her struggle at an early stage of her life, during her university studies, where she founded the “Enlightened University” union with a group of student activists.

She co-founded student groups for civil society work and participation, and chaired a women's hiking and mountaineering body.

In 2001, she joined the Center for Human Rights Defenders in Iran, which was founded by Shirin Ebadi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003.

Later, she participated with many figures from the Iranian legal, political, and cultural community in establishing the National Peace Council, and became president of its executive council.

Under the slogan “Women... Life... Freedom,” she worked to organize many demonstrations against what she calls “the policy of repression in Iran.”

Mohammadi describes the hijab in Iran as “a kind of religious hypocrisy,” and considers it inconsistent with religious principles and freedoms. She devoted her pen to writing about the reality of women and what they suffer from, what she sees as “exclusion and marginalization” within the social and political system in her country.

in prison

Because of its positions hostile to the regime’s politics, demanding the abolition of the death penalty and the necessity of equality between men and women, it experienced courts and prisons at the beginning of its life.

During her career, the Iranian authorities arrested her 13 times, convicted her to 31 years in prison, and sentenced her to 154 lashes.

She was imprisoned in 1999 because of her participation in unauthorized protests with dozens of people.

In 2011, she was arrested and transferred to Evin Prison designated for women, and in 2016, she was arrested on charges of participating in crimes against national security and participating in a gathering to stop the execution.

After her sentence was commuted, and she was released after doctors recommended her due to the deterioration of her health, she returned to prison in 2021, and in 2015 she was arrested and taken to Evin Prison again.

During the announcement of Narges Mohammadi winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 (French)

Compositions

Mohammadi wrote many articles in the local and international press, and her published works include:

  • “White Torture... Interviews with Iranian Women Prisoners,” a book in which she documented her experiences in prisons, and includes many stories of women prisoners in Iran.

  • "Reforms, Strategies and Tactics", which is a collection of various political articles I wrote on political affairs, reflecting the political vision I espouse.

Awards and honors

She has won many awards in the field of human rights and freedoms, the most important of which are:

  • Alexander Langer International Prize for Human Rights in 2009.

  • Per Unger Prize awarded by the Swedish government for freedom and human rights in 2011.

  • In 2022, she was included in the BBC list, which included 100 “most inspiring and influential women in the world.”

Nobel Peace Prize

On October 6, 2023, the Norwegian Nobel Committee chose Narges Mohammadi to receive the award. She was selected from among 351 candidates, including 259 individuals and 92 organizations. The value of the award is about one million dollars.

Her receipt of the award was welcomed by the United Nations, the US White House, and many international and governmental organizations.

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs considered that choosing Narges Mohammadi to be crowned with the award is “a kind of interference in internal politics and support for extremist figures.”

The Executive Director of Human Rights Watch said that Narges receiving the award carries a message to all human rights defenders that their work is visible and heard.

While French President Emmanuel Macron praised Mohammadi and described her as brave, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refrained from interacting with the issue, and merely told reporters, “We have no comment.”

Jobs and responsibilities

  • After graduating from university, she worked as an engineer in a company, but because of her oppositional positions, she was fired from work in 2009.

  • In 1996, she worked in “Bayam Hajar” magazine and published many articles related to women and family issues.

  • In 2003, she served as Vice President of the Center for the Defense of Human Rights, which was later banned.

  • In 2008, she chaired the Executive Committee of the Iranian National Peace Council.

  • She served as spokesperson for the Human Rights Defense Center in 2011.

  • She worked as a member of the Supreme Council of the Vahdat Arbitration Office, which is affiliated with the reformist movement.

Source: websites