On behalf of their imprisoned mother, Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, her teenage twins have accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.
Along with the Nobel prizes for economics, science, and literature, the prestigious peace prize was awarded in Oslo on Sunday. This year’s winner was Mohammadi, who is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence in Tehran for her efforts combating Iran’s female oppression.
Her children read aloud a speech that was smuggled out of prison in which she criticised the “tyrannical” government in Iran. “The Iranian people, with perseverance, will overcome repression and authoritarianism. Have no doubt, this is certain,” she said.
For many years, Mohammadi was a well-known advocate for human rights in Iran. Since 2010, the 51-year-old has spent nearly all of her time behind bars. She has been arrested 13 times, found guilty five times, and given a total of 31 years in prison.
Her crime of “spreading propaganda” landed her in jail.
They haven’t seen each other in years; her husband, political activist Taghi Rahmani, lives in exile in Paris with their two kids.
Kiana and Ali Rahmani, Mohammadi’s 17-year-old children, gave the speech in French that was smuggled out of Iran, and it began, “I write this message from behind the high, cold walls of a prison.”
She spoke highly of young Iranians, citing them as having “transformed the streets and public spaces into a place of widespread civil resistance” (alluding to the demonstrations that erupted after Mahsa Amini’s death last year).
The twins accepted the prize at a ceremony in Oslo’s City Hall in front of several hundred guests. The prize includes a cheque for 11 million Swedish crowns, or roughly £837,000, or $1 million.
