Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi faces new trial, family reveals

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, currently imprisoned, is set to face a new trial following her accusations against security forces for sexually assaulting female detainees, her family revealed on Saturday (May 18), according to AFP.

### ‘Full-scale War Against Women’
The trial, starting Sunday (May 19), stems from an audio message Mohammadi sent from the infamous Evin prison, where she condemned what she called a “full-scale war against women” by the Iranian regime. This message, shared by her supporters in April, led to charges of making “propaganda against the regime,” AFP reported. Iranian judicial authorities have yet to comment on the case.

### Mohammadi’s Imprisonment
Mohammadi, 52, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023, has already spent over 12 years in prison on multiple convictions. She has been detained 13 times, received five convictions, and faces a cumulative sentence of 31 years in prison, along with 154 lashes.

Her family quoted her saying the trial should be public so “witnesses and survivors can testify to the sexual assaults perpetrated by the Islamic Republic regime against women.”

### Frequent Trials
On her website, Mohammadi stated this is the fourth time in four years she has been brought to court for protesting and exposing the regime’s sexual assaults against women.

### The Content of the Message
In April, Mohammadi urged Iranian women on Instagram to share their experiences of arrest and sexual assault by Iranian authorities. She also highlighted the case of journalist and student Dina Ghalibaf, who, according to rights groups, was arrested after accusing security forces of handcuffing and sexually assaulting her during a previous arrest at a metro station. Ghalibaf has since been released.

Mohammadi’s website post mentioned she was being tried for speaking out against “the bruising of the body and narrating the assault on” Ghalibaf in an audio message.

### Family Separation
Mohammadi, who has been imprisoned since November 2021, has not seen her Paris-based husband and twin children for several years. The upcoming trial on Sunday will be her fourth such case.