Narges Mohammadi, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who is detained in Iran, made the announcement on X on the occasion of the two-year anniversary of “Woman, Life, Freedom.” In Paris, hundreds of people marched on Sunday in support of Iranian civil society.
Thirty-four Iranian female prisoners have started a hunger strike to “commemorate” the second anniversary of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement and the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, arrested for not respecting the strict Islamic dress code, announced Narges Mohammadi.
The Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner, detained since November 2021, announced on X that“Once again, political and ideological prisoners in Evin (a penitentiary center near Tehran, editor’s note) have started a hunger strike in solidarity with the people protesting in Iran against the oppressive policies of the government”.
Hundreds of protesters in Paris
It is by chanting “Woman, Life, Freedom” Hundreds of people marched in Paris on Sunday to show their support for Iranian civil society, two years after the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd killed for wearing an incorrectly worn veil in Iran, AFP noted.
Chirinne Ardakani, a Franco-Iranian lawyer and member of the Iran Justice collective, said that the «sacrifices» Iranians opposed to the regime were not “not in vain”. “Everything has changed in Iran, in mentalities, in society”she told AFP. “We went from an absolutely patriarchal culture, where it was not even a question of them being able to unveil themselves in the street, to massive support for these women”. Prisoners publish writings from their places of detention, she emphasizes. “We have truly seen that the women’s ward of Evin prison has established itself as the bastion of resistance in this struggle for Iranian women, for democracy, for freedom.”.
The march, organized by a collective of about twenty human rights associations, also received the support of Benjamin Brière and Louis Arnaud, two Frenchmen who had been arbitrarily arrested and detained in Iran before being released in May 2023 and last June respectively. Iran is accused of arresting Westerners without reason and using them as bargaining chips in state-to-state negotiations. French diplomacy describes these prisoners as“state hostages”.
“How ironic that I am standing here today, after spending nearly two years in Evin Prison for my alleged participation in the September 2022 protests.”stressed Louis Arnaud, who was speaking publicly for the first time since his release. “Yes, I was in prison, but it was a great honour to have been able to live among you, freedom fighters, who shared my sorrows.”he continued.
Sylvie Brigot, executive director of Amnesty International, denounced the continuing repression. “The death penalty is still used massively as an instrument to instill fear”she lamented. “And there are still thousands and thousands of people unjustly detained without trial.”
Three other French nationals are still being held in Iran: the couple Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, arrested in May 2022 and accused of being spies, as well as a man named Olivier, whose last name has not been made public.
