Hunger Strike in Solidarity with Baha'i Religious Minority
Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi will go on a new hunger strike from her prison cell in Iran as the prize is awarded in Oslo on Sunday in her absence, her family said Saturday.
Mohammadi, who has campaigned against the compulsory wearing of the hijab and the death penalty in Iran, will go on hunger strike "in solidarity" with the Baha'i religious minority, her brother and husband told a press conference in the Norwegian capital on the eve of the Nobel award ceremony.
"She is not here with us today, she is in prison and she will be on a hunger strike in solidarity with a religious minority but we feel her presence here," her younger brother, Hamidreza Mohammadi, said in a brief opening statement.
The 51-year-old activist's husband, Taghi Rahmani, went on to explain that the strike was a gesture of solidarity with the Baha'i religious minority, two of whose jailed leading figures, Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, have started refusing food.
"She said that 'I will start my hunger strike on the day that I am being granted this prize, perhaps then the world will hear more about it'," he explained.
Iran's Baha'i Community Faces Discrimination
The Baha'i community, Iran's largest religious minority, is facing discrimination in various aspects of society, according to its representatives.
Narges Mohammadi, a prominent figure in the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement, has gone on a hunger strike to demand the right to be transferred to a hospital without covering her head. Mohammadi, who was awarded the Nobel prize in October for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran, has been arrested 13 times and sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes. She has spent a significant portion of the past two decades in and out of jail.
In September 2022, the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was arrested for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress rules for women, sparked widespread protests across Iran. Mahsa Amini's parents and brother, who were set to receive the Sakharov Prize on her behalf in France, have been banned from leaving Iran.
Twin Children of Imprisoned Activist Represent Her at Nobel Ceremony
Detained since 2021 in Tehran's Evin prison, Mohammadi will be represented at the Oslo ceremony by her 17-year-old twin children, Ali and Kiana, who have been living in exile in France since 2015 and have not seen their mother for almost nine years.
They both don't know if they will ever see her alive again, but while Ali has faith, Kiana is doubtful.
"As for seeing her again one day, personally I'm rather pessimistic," she added, noting that the added attention of her mother receiving the Nobel prize would likely make the Iranian authorities curtail her freedom further.
"Maybe I'll see her in 30 or 40 years, but if not, I don't think I'll ever see her again, but that's OK because my mother will always be with me in my heart and with my family".
On the other hand, Ali said he was "very, very optimistic", even if it probably won't happen "in two, five or ten years".
"I believe in our victory", he asserted, before quoting his mother: "victory is not easy but it is certain".
During the Nobel prize ceremony in Oslo on Sunday, a remarkable moment unfolded. The twins took the stage, surrounded by the Norwegian royal family and esteemed guests, to deliver a speech that had been secretly passed to them by their imprisoned mother.
