Narges Mohammadi, who has won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, has for years been a prominent human rights figure in Iran.
She was awarded the prize for her fight against the oppression of women in the country, with the head of the Nobel committee calling her a “freedom fighter”. She has also tirelessly campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty in Iran, which has one of the highest execution rates in the world.
Despite being in jail almost continuously since 2010, Ms Mohammadi has managed to publicise abuses even from inside prison. She is vice-president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran, founded by fellow Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi.
Ms Mohammadi, 51, has been arrested 13 times, convicted five times, and sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison. She is currently in jail for “spreading propaganda”. Her husband, political activist Taghi Rahmani, lives in exile in Paris with their two children and they have not seen one another for years.
Despite her incarceration, Ms Mohammadi has not been silenced. Last year, in a letter from Evin Prison in Tehran she detailed how women detained in the anti-government protests which were then sweeping the country were being sexually and physically abused.
The protests were triggered by the death in custody in September 2022 of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, arrested for allegedly violating strict dress codes.
Ms Mohammadi also wrote a book, White Torture: Interviews with Iranian Women Prisoners, documenting her own and 12 other inmates' experiences of solitary confinement.
“I declare once more that this is a cruel and inhumane punishment,” she wrote. “I will not rest until it is abolished.” In awarding Ms Mohammadi the prize, the head of the Nobel committee noted that she fought for women against systemic discrimination and oppression.
She has won a string of human rights awards down the years, but the fact that she has received the world's most prestigious peace accolade gives Ms Mohammadi a level of international recognition which will not be welcomed by Iran.
— CutC by bbc.com
