Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi has begun a hunger strike in her Iranian prison in protest at limits on medical care for her and other inmates, as well as the obligation for wo-men to wear the hijab in the Islamic republic, her family said on Monday.
Veteran rights activist Moha-mmadi, 51, currently held in Te-hran’s Evin prison, was awarded the Nobel prize in October “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran.”
“Narges Mohammadi, today, through a message from Evin Prison, has informed her family that she started a hunger strike several hours ago. We are con-cerned about Narges Mohamma-di’s physical condition and heal-th,” her family said in a state-ment.
Mohammadi is refusing under any circumstances to wear a hijab, the head covering that has been obligatory for women in public spaces since shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.
Prison authorities in response have refused to transfer Moha-mmadi, who suffers from heart and lung conditions, to a hospital outside Evin for treatment.
The family said in the state-ment that she was in “urgent” need of medical treatment outside prison.
“Narges went on a hunger strike today in protesting two things: The Islamic Republic’s policy of delaying and neglecting medical care for sick inmates… (and) the policy of ‘mandatory hijab’ for Iranian women,” the statement said.