Nobel Peace Prize awarded to imprisoned activist Narges Mohammadi for fighting against the oppression of women in Iran.
ADVERTISEMENTIranian activist Narges Mohammadi has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her fight for women's rights in Iran.
“She fights for women against systematic discrimination and oppression,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee who announced the prize in Oslo.
Authorities arrested Mohammadi in November after she attended a memorial for a victim of 2019 protests.
Before being jailed, Mohammadi was vice president of the banned Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. Mohammadi has been close to Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, who founded the centre.
Ebadi left Iran after the disputed re-election of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009 which touched off unprecedented protests and harsh crackdowns by authorities. In 2018, Mohammadi, an engineer, was awarded the 2018 Andrei Sakharov Prize.
In 2022, Mohammadi was tried in five minutes and sentenced to eight years in prison and 70 lashes.
A panel of experts in Norway chose the winner of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize from a list of just over 350 nominations.
Last year's prize was won by human rights activists from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, in what was seen as a strong rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart and ally.
The prize can be awarded to individuals or organizations. Other previous winners include Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, Mikhail Gorbachev, Aung San Suu Kyi and the United Nations.
This year, the committee received 351 nominations — 259 for individuals and 92 for organizations. People who can make nominations include former Nobel Peace Prize winners, members of the committee, heads of states, members of parliaments and professors of political science, history and international law.
The prizes are handed out at awards ceremonies in December in Oslo and Stockholm. They carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor (about €1 million).
Winners also receive an 18-carat gold medal and diploma when they collect their Nobel Prizes at the award ceremonies.
The Peace Prize is the fifth of the awards announced so far, after Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Literature.