France is criticizing the Iranian regime after Tehran sentenced Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi to six years in prison. Paris demands her release and draws attention to the repression of human rights defenders.
France on Monday accused Iran of repression and intimidation after a Tehran court sentenced Nobel Peace Prize laureate and women’s rights activist Narges Mohammadi to six years in prison. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
“With this sentence, the Iranian regime has once again opted for repression and intimidation,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement, describing the 53-year-old as a tireless defender of human rights.
Paris is demanding the release of an activist who was detained by Iranian security forces in December in the city of Mashhad, where a memorial service was held for lawyer Khosrov Alikordi, who was found dead in his office a week earlier. Viaceré ľudskoprávne organizácie označili jeho smrť za podozrivú a naznačili možné zapojenie iránskych úradov.
Mohammadi has been on a protest hunger strike in prison since February 2. Her lawyer expressed the hope that due to the activist’s health problems, she could be temporarily released on bail. The court’s decision is not yet final and it is possible to appeal against it.
The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize has long fought against the application of the death penalty and the obligation of Iranian women to cover themselves and wear the hijab. Wearing it is neither a religious obligation nor a cultural model, but rather a tool of control and a symbol of subordination to the entire society, Mohammadi said in a speech smuggled out of her prison cell.
She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran, for her efforts in promoting human rights and freedoms, and for rejecting the death penalty in Iran.
