PARIS: Iranian prison authorities have blocked 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Moham­madi’s hospital transfer for urgently needed care over her refusal to wear the compulsory hijab, her family has said.

Veteran rights activist Mohammadi, 51, who is currently being held in Tehran’s Evin prison, was awarded the prize in October “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran”.

Her selection came in the wake of months-long protests across Iran triggered by the September 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, who had been arrested for allegedly flouting the Islamic republic’s strict dress rules for women.

Narges has subsequently announced she would not under any circumstances wear a hijab, the head covering which has been obligatory for women in public spaces since shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

Prison authorities in response have refused to transfer Narges, who suffers from heart and lung conditions, to a hospital outside Evin, her family said in a statement, warning her health and life were at risk.

“Two days and nights, a group of women in Evin protested in the prison yard to send Narges Mohammadi to the heart hospital,” they wrote on her Instagram account late on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2023