Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammadi gets 3-week reprieve from prison after surgery
Narges Mohammadi’s release on medical grounds sparks calls for permanent freedom and adequate healthcare
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi was released temporarily from prison Wednesday after undergoing a complex surgery in Iran that saw part of a bone in her right leg removed over cancer fears, her supporters said.
Video footage from Iran’s capital, Tehran, showed Mohammadi taken out of the back of an ambulance, her black hair fanned out without the required hijab, or headscarf, covering it as she called out into the street. Her right leg was covered in a fabric cast.
“Hello freedom!” she shouted. “Women, life, freedom! Freedom is our right! Long live freedom!”
A campaign on Mohammadi’s behalf said she would be free for 21 days, but would have to serve the remaining prison time later. The Iranian government did not acknowledge the medical furlough for Mohammadi, 52, which her supporters demanded should involve her being permanently freed.
“A 21-day suspension of Narges Mohammadi’s sentence is inadequate,” the campaign said. “After over a decade of imprisonment, Narges requires specialised medical care in a safe, sanitary environment – a basic human right. As doctors have emphasised, a minimum of three months’ recovery is crucial for her healing.”
