The 52-year-old Nobel laureate has been in jail since November 2021 over convictions related to her advocacy against the country’s draconian hijab law and capital punishment
read more
In an effort to curb the voices of dissent in Iran, a new trial against the jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi opened in her absence. Mohammadi’s lawyer confirmed that the trial took place on Saturday after the Iranian activist refused to attend the hearing multiple times.
The 52-year-old Nobel laureate has been in jail since November 2021 over convictions related to her advocacy against the country’s draconian hijab law and capital punishment.
“The hearing of Ms Narges Mohammadi was held today without her presence at the 29th Branch” of the Revolutionary court in the capital Tehran, said her lawyer, Mostafa Nili, on X, formally known as Twitter. Nilli stated that her client was “accused of spreading propaganda against the state” over “her remarks on Dina Ghalibaf and on the boycott of legislative elections” held in March, AFP reported.
The Dina Ghalibaf tragedy
Rights groups have stated that Ghalibaf, a journalist and student, was arrested after she accused Iranian security officials of putting her in handcuffs and sexually assaulting her during a previous arrest at a metro station.
Following the accusation on her social media account, the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan Online website said on April 22 that Ghalibaf “had not been raped” and that she was being prosecuted for making a “false statement”. It is important to note that the Iranian student has since been released.
Last month, Mohammadi’s family called for a public trial so “witnesses and survivors can testify to the sexual assaults perpetrated by the Islamic Republic regime against women”. In March, the Nobel prize winner shared an audio message from prison in which she called the current climate a “full-scale war against women” in the Islamic Republic.
Shortly after the nationwide protest that engulfed the country, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, the Iranian police have intensified enforcement of the country’s Islamic dress code for women and also made significant use of the video surveillance law.
Under the rules adopted immediately after the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iranian women are required to cover their hair and dress modestly in public spaces.
With inputs from agencies.