Iran sentences Nobel peace laureate Mohammadi to six years in prison —lawyer

TEHRAN — An Iranian court sentenced Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi to a six-year prison term, her lawyer told AFP on Sunday.

"She has been sentenced to six years in prison for gathering and collusion to commit crimes," lawyer Mostafa Nili said, adding that she had also received a two-year ban on leaving the country.

Mohammadi was also handed a one-and-a-half-year prison sentence for propaganda activities and is to be exiled for two years to the city of Khosf in the eastern province of South Khorasan, the lawyer stated.

Under Iranian law, jail sentences run concurrently.

Nili expressed hope that due to Mohammadi's health issues, she could be temporarily "released on bail to receive treatment."

He added that the verdict issued was not final and could be appealed.

Over the past quarter-century, Mohammadi, 53, has been repeatedly tried and jailed for her vocal campaigning against Iran's use of capital punishment and the mandatory dress code for women.

Mohammadi has spent much of the past decade behind bars and has not seen her twin children, who live in Paris, since 2015.

In December 2024, she was released for three weeks on medical grounds related to "her physical condition after the removal of a tumor and a bone graft," according to her lawyer.

Even behind bars, the Nobel laureate has not been silent, staging protests in the prison yard and going on hunger strikes.

Mohammadi won the peace prize in 2023, primarily for her campaigning against the death penalty in Iran. Her children collected the award on her behalf, as she was in prison at the time.

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, say Iran carries out more executions each year than any other country except China, for which no reliable figures are available. — Agence France-Presse