Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi is transferred from prison to a hospital due to serious health problems

The 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Narges Mohammadi, was urgently transferred by ambulance on Friday night from the prison where she is held to a hospital in the city of Zanjan after suffering a severe physical deterioration, according to the website of the foundation that bears her name. The hospitalization comes after 140 days in prison and the persistent refusal of the authorities to provide her with specialized medical care, as requested by her family.

Mohammadi, 54, lost consciousness after suffering a heart crisis in Zanjan prison, about 350 kilometers from the capital, Tehran. This episode adds to other serious incidents suffered in recent weeks. Among them, an alleged heart attack treated by the prison nurses, total fainting, large fluctuations in her blood pressure, episodes of distress, and sharp chest pains.

Mohammadi’s family insists on her transfer to Tehran to be treated by a specialized medical team. Her relatives argue that, given her medical history (she has a stent), treatment in other hospitals can be extremely dangerous. For all these reasons, according to her lawyer, Mostafa Nili, the Nobel laureate refused the transfer to Zanjan when she regained consciousness.

Mohammadi is currently serving several sentences totaling 18 years in prison for charges such as “assembly and conspiracy against national security” or “propaganda against the State.” The latest sentence was handed down last December, when she was detained for the thirteenth time and sentenced to seven and a half years in prison on several charges.

The other sentences also include internal exile and travel bans. Various human rights organizations have called for her immediate release for humanitarian reasons, as well as that of other human rights activists, writers, and journalists imprisoned in Iran. They also requested that Iranian authorities guarantee her access to medical care, legal assistance, and contact with her family, in compliance with international law.