Who is Narges Mohammadi the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner? What are her greatest achievements?
The Nobel Committee has awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize to Narges Mohammadi. A look back at her activism, impact, and achievements.
One of the most precious awards in the world, the Nobel Peace Prize, has been awarded to Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi.
Earlier this year, Mohammadi was awarded the 2023 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, which she shared with her sister, Elaheh Mohammadi, and fellow activist Niloofar Hamedi.
The celebration to honor all winners of the 2023 Nobel Prizes will take place in December, but the Nobel Committee took time on Friday morning to speak to the achievements of Narges Mohammadi, who currently sits in prison in Iran. The Committee also hopes that the Iranian regime will “make the right choice” and allow Mohammadi to travel to the ceremony to honor the laureates that will take place later this year.
Fighting for ‘Women, Life, and Freedom’
Mohammadi, 51, was born in Zanjan, Iran, and has dedicated much of her life to fighting for human rights under the mantra of “Women, Life, Freedom.”
Though she studied physics at university, issues related to gender and human rights have always been close to Mohammadi’s heart.
Since 1998, the activist has been arrested on several occasions and has currently been behind bars since November 2021. Her arrest in 2021 came after she spoke out against the Iranian regime’s use of capital punishment and the sentences handed down to other activists. These comments led her to be sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.
Mohammadi has continued her activism from behind bars
During the most recent protests in Iran, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini while she was in police custody in December 2022, Mohammadi supported the BBC in publishing a report on the sexual and physical violence many women face while being detained at Evin Prison in Tehran. This reporting focused on the use of solitary confinement, a practice that is widely used in countries like the United States.
The Nobel Committee said that by awarding Mohammadi the Nobel Peace Prize, they wish to “honour her courageous fight for human rights, freedom, and democracy in Iran,” and to recognize “the hundreds of thousands of people who, in the preceding year, have demonstrated against the theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women.”