TEHRAN: Iran has released Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, imprisoned since November 2021, for three weeks on medical grounds, her lawyer announced on social media.
“On the advice of the examining doctor, the prosecutor suspended the prison sentence imposed on Narges Mohammadi for three weeks and she was released from prison,” said Mostafa Nili on X.
Mohammadi’s family and supporters quickly released a statement protesting that the three-week medical leave was not enough.
“A 21-day suspension of Narges Mohammadi’s sentence is insufficient. We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Narges Mohammadi or at least an extension of his leave to three months,” they said in a statement.
Over the past quarter century, Mohammadi, 52, has been tried and imprisoned several times for her campaign against Iran’s widespread use of capital punishment and its mandatory dress code for women.
She has spent most of the last decade behind bars.
“The reasons for his release are his physical condition after the removal of a tumor and a bone graft three weeks ago,” Nili said. “The tumor was benign but she needs checks every three months. »
In June, Mohammadi was sentenced to an additional year in prison for “propaganda against the state.”
She refused to appear in court for the trial after her request for the trial to be held publicly was rejected.
In a letter sent to prison in September, she condemned the “devastating oppression” of women in Iran.
The letter was released by his foundation to mark the second anniversary of nationwide protests that followed the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman detained for an alleged dress code violation.
Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023, mainly for his campaign against the death penalty in Iran.
Human rights groups including Amnesty International say Iran carries out more executions each year than any other country except China, for which no reliable figures are available.
