Dr Mathai condemns Iran for short medical leave for Nobel Peace winner Narges

The 52-year-old women's rights activist opposing hijab in Iran has been held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison since 2021.

Iranian officials had suspended Mohammadi’s jail sentence on doctor's advice after she underwent surgery to remove a tumour.

Mohammadi has been released from jail for three weeks on medical grounds, according to her lawyer.

However, her family and supporters have called for her to be freed permanently, describing the temporary release as "too little, too late".

“We strongly condemn the Iranian authorities' decision to grant only a 21-day medical leave to 2023 Nobel Peace Laureate and Mother Teresa Memorial Awardee Narges Mohammadi. This limited and delayed response comes after her surgery for suspected cancer, a situation that demands far more humane and immediate intervention,” Dr Mathai, also founder president of Mumbai-based Harmony Foundation, an NGO, said in a Dec.5 statement.

“The three-month medical leave requested by her family and doctors was already minimal, yet authorities have chosen to undermine even this plea,” it added.

After years of unjust imprisonment for her courageous stand on women’s rights, granting her only temporary relief for 21 days was a glaring violation of her dignity and basic human rights, Dr Mathai said.

Calling for greater global pressure on Iran, Dr Mathai said “every human being has the right to quality medical care, free from constraints and intimidation”.

Ms Mohammadi’s health crisis highlights the oppressive actions of the Iranian regime and its disregard for human dignity, he noted.

“It is imperative that she be allowed to seek treatment abroad and regain the freedom that is her birthright. The world must unite in holding the Iranian authorities accountable for their actions,” Dr Mathai said.

“Ms Mohammadi’s fight is not hers alone. It is a battle for a just and equitable world. The Iranian authorities must end this inhumane treatment and grant her complete freedom—not only to recover her health but to continue her vital work for humanity,” he said.

The head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, called on Iranian authorities to "permanently end her imprisonment and ensure that she will get adequate medical treatment for her illnesses".

A UN Human Rights Office spokesman in Geneva described the temporary release as "important".

It reiterated its call "for the immediate and unconditional release of Ms Mohammadi" along with other Iranian men and women "detained or imprisoned for the legitimate exercise of their freedom of expression and other human rights".

After her temporary release, a video was posted on Ms Mohammadi's Instagram account showing her sitting up on a stretcher and being wheeled out of an ambulance.

In the footage, she shouts "Woman, Life, Freedom" - the slogan of the 2022-2023 protest movement that rocked the Islamic authorities.

Images on social media showed Ms Mohammadi's right leg heavily strapped. She also clutched a picture of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Iranian woman whose custody death in September 2022 sparked the protests.

Ms Mohammadi's husband Taghi Rahmani told reporters his wife "came out in a good state of mind, a combative state despite her very fragile state of health".

The Narges Mohammadi Foundation, in a statement said she underwent surgery last month after doctors discovered a bone lesion in her right leg suspected of being cancerous.

She was then transferred back to prison after just two days. The group said that was done "against her doctor’s advice and request from her legal team, even though she was unable to walk or even sit".

Since then, Ms Mohammadi has seen a "rapid development of bedsores and intensified pain in her back and legs".

The foundation called the 21-day suspension "inadequate" and said a minimum of three months is crucial for her recovery.

Unlike a medical furlough, which would have allowed the recovery period to count towards her prison term, this suspension means she will be required to serve an additional 21 days after returning to prison, the foundation added.

Ms Mohammadi won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize and the Mother Teresa Memorial award in the same year for her campaigning against the oppression of women in Iran.

Her teenage children accepted the prize in Oslo on her behalf and read a speech which had been smuggled out of prison.

"I write this message from behind the high, cold walls of a prison. The Iranian people, with perseverance, will overcome repression and authoritarianism," Ms Mohammadi said.

In 2016, she was sentenced to 16 years in prison, but was later released on bail. She then launched a campaign to stop solitary confinement and published two books and a documentary film.

She was arrested again in 2021 and has been in prison since.

Ms Mohammadi has been arrested a total of 13 times, tried five times, and sentenced to more than 32 years imprisonment and 154 lashes, according to her foundation.