PARIS, Aug 1, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The health of jailed Iranian Nobel laureate
Narges Mohammadi has deteriorated in prison, supporters said Thursday,
demanding her freedom and calling to give her access to medical care "without
delay".

Rights activist Mohammadi, 52, has been jailed since November 2021, and has
spent much of the past decade in and out of prison.

A group of supporters of Mohammadi, who in 2023 won the Nobel Peace Prize in
recognition of her advocacy work, said they had been informed of the results
of medical tests carried out last month "which showed a worrying
deterioration of her health".

"The Free Narges Coalition is extremely worried about the deterioration of
Narges Mohammadi's health in detention," the group said in a statement,
noting cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and other risks.

Mohammadi, who is held in Tehran's Evin prison, should be released
"immediately" and have access to medical care "without delay", the coalition
added.

In the past eight months, Mohammadi has been suffering from acute back and
knee pain, including a herniated spinal disc, the supporters said.

Mohammadi has kept campaigning even behind bars and strongly supported the
protests that erupted across Iran following the September 2022 death in
custody of Mahsa Amini who had been arrested for allegedly violating the
Islamic republic's strict dress rules for women.

In recent weeks, Mohammadi and other women held with her at Evin have staged
protests in the prison yard against death sentences handed to two Iranian
Kurdish activists, Pakhshan Azizi and Sharifeh Mohammadi who were tried for
membership of an illegal armed group.

Narges Mohammadi received in June a new one-year prison term for "propaganda
against the state", on top of a litany of other verdicts that already
amounted to 12 years and three months of imprisonment, 154 lashes, two years
of exile and various social and political restrictions.