Nobel Committee Condemns Jail Term for Iranian Laureate Mohammadi

An undated photo of Narges Mohammadi provided by the foundation that bears her name © - / NARGES MOHAMMADI FOUNDATION/AFP
An undated photo of Narges Mohammadi provided by the foundation that bears her name © - / NARGES MOHAMMADI FOUNDATION/AFP
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Nobel Committee Condemns Jail Term for Iranian Laureate Mohammadi

An undated photo of Narges Mohammadi provided by the foundation that bears her name © - / NARGES MOHAMMADI FOUNDATION/AFP
An undated photo of Narges Mohammadi provided by the foundation that bears her name © - / NARGES MOHAMMADI FOUNDATION/AFP

The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Thursday criticized an Iranian court's decision to slap an additional one-year jail term on imprisoned 2023 Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi.

Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, called it "a flagrant violation of human rights and a travesty of justice".

Mohammadi, 52, has been jailed since November 2021 over several past convictions relating to her campaigns against the obligatory hijab for women and capital punishment in Iran.

Her lawyer, Mostafa Nili, said on X on Tuesday: "Mohammadi was sentenced to one year in prison for propaganda against the system."

The Nobel Committee said it "strongly condemns the harsh and unjust sentencing".

Nili said the sentence was in response to calls to boycott parliamentary elections, letters to Swedish and Norwegian lawmakers, and comments made about journalist and student Dina Ghalibaf, AFP reported.

Rights groups said Ghalibaf was taken into custody after accusing security forces on social media of putting her in handcuffs and sexually assaulting her during a previous arrest at a metro station.

Ghalibaf has since been released.

The Iranian judiciary's Mizan Online website said on April 22 that Ghalibaf "had not been raped" and that she was being prosecuted for making a "false statement".

Mohammadi refused to attend a trial hearing in Tehran earlier this month, and in March shared an audio message from prison in which she decried a "full-scale war against women" in the Islamic republic.

She was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize in October "for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all".



Attacker Wounds Policeman Guarding Israel's Embassy in Serbia before Being Shot Dead

Police officers block off traffic at an intersection close to the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
Police officers block off traffic at an intersection close to the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
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Attacker Wounds Policeman Guarding Israel's Embassy in Serbia before Being Shot Dead

Police officers block off traffic at an intersection close to the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
Police officers block off traffic at an intersection close to the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

An attacker with a crossbow wounded a Serbian police officer guarding the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade on Saturday, Serbia’s interior ministry said. The officer responded by fatally shooting the assailant.
Both Serbian and Israeli officials said that initial indications are that it was a terror-motivated attack.
Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said in a statement that the attacker fired a bolt at the officer, hitting him in the neck. He said the officer then "used a weapon in self-defense to shoot the attacker, who died as a result of his injuries.”
The policeman was conscious when he was transported to Belgrade's main emergency hospital, where an operation to remove the bolt from his neck will be performed, the statement added.

The policeman is in a life-threatening condition and is undergoing surgery, Serbian news agency Tanjug quoted Dacic as saying.
A spokesman with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “today there was an attempted terrorist attack in the vicinity of the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade.” The spokesman said the embassy is closed and no employee of the embassy was injured.
Dacic told reporters that “we are still talking about possible motives."
He added, however: “There are now all indications that the motives relate to terrorism. Because there is no other motive why someone would attack a gendarme outside the Israeli Embassy.”
He said one person was arrested near the scene of the shooting. Police are investigating a possible network and ties with foreign terrorist groups, he added.
The identity of the attacker was still being determined.
Authorities raised the security alert in Belgrade, including for foreign embassies and government buildings but also public places such as shopping malls and other busy areas.