Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, Nobel Peace Prize winner

At 51 years old, Narges Mohammadi has spent half his life in and out of prison. From her cell she has received the news that she has been awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize, for her tireless work for women's rights.. It is also from prison, with the limitations that this space implies, where he continues to denounce the constant human rights violations committed by the Iranian authorities.. Ten months ago she was sentenced to ten years, eight months in prison and 154 lashes for “crimes against national security” for reporting hundreds of cases of torture and sexual violence in police custody.

The trial took place in the midst of protests against the regime after the death of the young Mahsa Jina Amini, arrested for not wearing a veil in public spaces.. The court sentenced Mohammadi in a trial that lasted barely five minutes and in which the activist did not have access to a lawyer.. Due to the unfair nature of the sentence, Mohammadi decided not to appeal as a form of protest.

The persecution of the authorities against Mohammadi increased after the publication of her book on prison brutality in the country, titled 'White Torture: Interviews with Iranian Prisoners', as well as a documentary on the isolation practices imposed in many prisons in the country. and that the activist herself has suffered on various occasions.

In August another court sentenced the activist to another year in prison for “propaganda” for speaking about the human rights situation in Iran with Javaid Rahman, the United Nations rights rapporteur.. Mohammadi's “propaganda” was actually about the denunciation with data and testimonies of sexual violence and “systematic” abuse in the arrests of protesters after the death of Mahsa Jina Amini.

The death of the young woman in police custody, detained for not wearing the Islamic veil correctly in public spaces, sparked a wave of protests for women's rights and against the regime, shouting “Woman, life and freedom”, a he proclaims that he constantly uses Mohammadi in his fight on the street and from prison.

Human rights groups denounce that in the last year the regime's repression has seriously increased, which has not granted a single one of the protesters' demands.. Since Amini's death, more than 20,000 people have been arrested in protests and in their homes.. Persecution affects anyone who supports a protest or speaks to the press.. At least 500 people have been shot dead by security forces, while reports of torture, sexual assault and harassment in detention centers increase, cases that Mohammadi has extensively documented.. The activist, an engineer by profession, was interested in women's rights since she was studying at university. In those years, more than two decades ago, Mohammadi denounces similar humiliations against women by the regime, from arrests for not wearing the veil in public spaces to the separation between men and women or mistreatment in prisons.. However, Mohammadi has pointed out that in the last year, the level of sexual violence against detained women “has increased significantly” and it is a “systematic” practice.

He has experienced the humiliation and isolation in prison firsthand.. For more than a year, the Iranian authorities have not allowed her to receive visits from her husband and children.. They have also limited her contact with the organization she works for, the Center for Human Rights Defenders, an organization led by Shirin Ebadi, another women's rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2003.

Prison isolation has reduced his health. Mohammadi suffered a heart attack this year and the prosecution did not allow her to be treated at an outside hospital.. His cardiovascular problems have not been treated correctly, rights groups denounce. The activist has also developed a disease similar to epilepsy that causes her to lose muscle control.. Despite living in deplorable conditions in the penitentiary, Mohammadi continues working to denounce rights violations against women despite the cost: greater isolation and more time in prison.