The Japan Times - Iran Nobel winner unwell after 'violent' arrest: supporters

Mohammadi, who won the 2023 Nobel prize, was detained Friday after addressing a memorial ceremony in the eastern city of Mashhad for lawyer Khosrow Alikordi, who was found dead earlier this month.

Iranian civil society activists including prize-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi meanwhile called for the "immediate and unconditional release" of Mohammadi and other campaigners arrested at the ceremony.

There had been no information about her whereabouts or communication with her until late Sunday when she made a "short and compressed" telephone call to her family, her foundation said in a statement.

In the call, Mohammadi related how at the ceremony she "was attacked by plain clothed agents with severe and repeated baton blows to the head and neck and was then violently arrested".

"Narges Mohammadi said in the call that the intensity of the blows was so heavy, forceful, and repeated that she was taken to the hospital emergency room twice," said the foundation, adding that in the call "her physical condition was not good, and she appeared unwell".

One of her brothers Hamid Mohammadi, who lives in Norway, told AFP in Oslo that Narges Mohammadi had called another brother inside Iran, telling him she was hit "brutally" on the head and her face and "as a result had been taken to be checked by a physician".

"She's not hospitalised and is still in detention," he said.

- 'Violent manner of arrest' -

According to Mashhad prosecutor Hassan Hemmatifar, 38 people were arrested at the ceremony including Mohammadi and fellow prominent activist Sepideh Gholian for inciting people to chant slogans that "violated the norms". Alikordi's brother Javad was arrested later the same day.

Rights groups, including Mohammadi's foundation, have described Alikordi's death as "suspicious", calling for an investigation. Iranian officials have said the lawyer, 45, died of a heart attack.

The Nobel peace committee has described her arrest as "brutal" with chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes telling AFP on Saturday it "called on the Iranian authorities both to clarify where she is, how she is, but first and foremost, actually release her from prison".

Mohammadi, who has spent much of the last decade in and out of jail, had been allowed out of prison in December 2024 on medical leave. Over the last year, she has continued campaigning.

Images of the ceremony showed Mohammadi -- not wearing the headscarf that is obligatory for women in public in the Islamic republic -- climbing atop a car to address crowds who chanted slogans against the authorities.

- 'Worrying state of freedom' -

During the call, Mohammadi asked her family to "immediately and without delay file a formal complaint against the detaining security body and the violent manner of her arrest".

It is unclear what she and the other activists detained are accused of, and the statement also said Mohammadi was unaware "which security authority is currently detaining her".

The foundation said that, according to Mohammadi, "during and after her arrest she was accused of 'cooperating with the Israeli government'". Iranian authorities are yet to confirm any charges.

Activists say Iran remains in the throes of a deep crackdown more than five months after the end of the 12-day war against Israel, with over 1,400 people executed so far this year.

Panahi, fellow director Mohammad Rasoulof and over a dozen other activists said what happened at Alikordi's memorial ceremony "was a stark reflection of the worrying state of freedom and security, and, consequently, the inefficiency and lack of accountability of the authorities in today's Iran".

"The deep political and social deadlock in the country can only be resolved through the restoration of sovereignty to the people," the statement signatories said.

Pahani, whose last film "It Was Just an Accident" won top prize at the Cannes Film Festival this year and has been nominated for an Oscar, has been sentenced to one year in prison over "propaganda activities" against the Islamic republic.

Currently touring to promote the film, he has said he nonetheless plans to return to Iran.

H.Hayashi--JT