Nobel Peace Prize for Iranian women's rights activist
This year's Nobel Peace Prize goes to the imprisoned Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi. During the mass protests against the Tehran regime in 2022, Mohammadi, now 51, reported from the notorious Evin Prison on how arrested women were tortured and sexually abused. Can the award help Mohammadi and Iran?
May this be the beginning of the end
La Vanguardia appeals to the international community:
“The anachronistic and despotic religious fanaticism of the ayatollah regime must come to an end. ... The first step demanded by the Norwegian committee must be the release of Narges Mohammadi and all the women still in prison. ... Mohammadi said recently that the Iranian women's movement will accelerate the process towards democracy, freedom and equality in her country. But she also said that this will require the support of the international community. The awarding of the Nobel Prize to this human rights activist should be the beginning of the end of the violent oppression in Iran.”
Little hope of release
Libération does not expect Mohammadi to be released any time soon:
“Narges Mohammadi is serving an almost eleven-year sentence in the notorious Evin prison north of Tehran. Her life is dominated by arrests, threats and interrogations by the Iranian secret services, and unfortunately she cannot hope that the prize will speed up her release. Last year's laureate Ales Bialiatski, a key figure in the democracy movement in Belarus, is still in prison in Minsk; Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, laureate in 2010, died in prison in 2017. ... This list could be continued endlessly. These heroes and heroines of peace are not fighting for their own destiny, but for that of their people and all of the oppressed.”
Also a signal to the West
The taz criticises the West for cozying up to the regime in Iran:
“International diplomacy has reverted to the way it dealt with the regime before the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' movement. The UN General Assembly in September was a shameful meeting. Journalists of Iranian origin were threatened by those loyal to the regime; Western politicians, who are so fond of talking about human rights, had their pictures taken shaking hands with the butchers of Tehran, and the Iranian state media delightedly used them for propaganda. The Nobel Prize should also send a signal to Western politicians: You're on the wrong side.”