Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi released on bail amid urgent health fears

WEB DESK: The Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi has been granted a temporary release from prison on medical grounds, her foundation has confirmed.

The 54-year-old campaigner, who has spent much of the past two decades in and out of Iranian custody, was transferred from a prison in Zanjan to a hospital in Tehran on Sunday, according to Reuters.

The move follows weeks of mounting international pressure and grave warnings from her family that her life was “hanging in the balance” after she suffered two suspected heart attacks behind bars.

Critical health decline and hospital transfer

According to the Narges Mohammadi Foundation, the activist was granted a “sentence suspension on heavy bail” after her condition deteriorated to a point that prison doctors could no longer manage.

She was reportedly transported by ambulance to Tehran Pars Hospital, where she is now being treated by her own specialist medical team.

Supporters have painted a harrowing picture of her recent weeks in Zanjan prison, north-west of the capital.

Her lawyers claim she has lost approximately 20kg (three stone) and is currently “unrecognisable” compared to her state before her most recent arrest in December.

Her Paris-based husband, Taghi Rahmani, stated that while the hospital transfer was a necessary step, a “temporary transfer is not enough” given the severity of her “catastrophic health failure.”

A decade of activism and imprisonment

Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 for her tireless work against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight for human rights and freedom for all.

Despite the international accolade, she remained incarcerated, facing a total sentence that still has 18 years remaining.

Her latest arrest occurred late last year after she publicly criticised the Iranian authorities during a memorial service for a human rights lawyer.

Her foundation and family have now issued a renewed plea for her unconditional freedom, arguing that returning her to prison would be a “death sentence.”

They maintain that she was subjected to “systematic medical neglect” for 140 days prior to this bail agreement.

As she begins treatment in Tehran, human rights organisations worldwide are watching closely, calling for the permanent dismissal of all charges against the laureate.