Narges Mohammadi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and prominent human rights defender, has been sentenced by Branch One of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court to a lengthy discretionary prison term and two years of internal exile, according to her lawyer, Mostafa Nili.
According to Nili, Mohammadi was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment on charges of “assembly and collusion,” an additional one and a half years for alleged “propaganda activities,” and supplementary punishments including a two-year travel ban and two years of exile to the city of Khousf. These charges stem solely from her participation in, and speech at, a memorial ceremony.
Mohammadi was arrested in December during the seventh-day memorial for human rights lawyer Khosrow Alikordi, alongside several other activists. Her husband, Taghi Rahmani, described the ruling as “merciless,” stating that the court issued this heavy sentence solely for her peaceful presence and speech at a funeral ceremony. Mohammadi has previously stated that she will only defend herself in a public and transparent trial.
Following her arrest, Mohammadi reported being subjected to severe physical violence, including repeated baton blows to her head and neck. She told her family that the assault was so severe that she was transferred to hospital emergency care on two occasions and remained in poor physical condition at the time of her brief phone call. Witnesses reported that around 15 plainclothes agents participated in the arrest, using excessive force and tear gas.
Narges Mohammadi, spokesperson for the Defenders of Human Rights Center, has been arrested at least six times over the past two decades due to her peaceful human rights activities. She has also been separated from her twin children, who reside in France, for years, as a result of repeated imprisonment and travel bans.
This ruling represents a grave escalation in the persecution of one of Iran’s most prominent human rights defenders and reflects the continued use of imprisonment, violence, and internal exile to silence peaceful dissent and civil society activism.