Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023, has started a hunger strike while imprisoned in Evin prison in Tehran, Iran, famous for being the place where political prisoners are often locked up. Mohammadi is protesting against prison officials who have been blocking her transfer to hospital for a week despite her needing urgent medical care due to her refusal to wear the hijab, an Islamic veil that has been mandatory in public places in Iran since 1979.
On Monday, Mohammadi’s family published a statement on their official Instagram profile saying that the prison had informed them of the start of the hunger strike. The message also states that, according to a “trusted” prison doctor, Mohammadi needs to be urgently transferred to hospital as her heart and lung problems have worsened.
In the statement, Mohammadi’s family says they will not go on strike regard only the lack of medical care for the woman, but more generally the prison’s tendency to delay this type of care for prisoners who need it and the policy of compulsory hijab for Iranian women, which Mohammadi has opposed for years .