OSLO, Nov 1, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - "Victory is not easy, but it is certain,"
imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner and women's rights activist Narges
Mohammadi, said in a message smuggled out of her Tehran cell published late
Tuesday.

In the message, read out in French by her daughter, Kiana Rahmani, and posted
on the official Nobel website, the 51-year-old activist and journalist
expressed "sincere gratitude" to the Norwegian Nobel committee.

Mohammadi -- who was given the nod in early October "for her fight against
the oppression of women in Iran" -- once again criticised the requirement for
women in Iran to wear a headscarf, and denounced Iranian authorities.

"The compulsory hijab is a means of control and repression imposed on the
society and on which the continuation and survival of this authoritarian
religious regime depends," she declared through her 17-year-old daughter, who
has taken refuge in France along with her family.

She condemned "a regime that has institutionalized deprivation and poverty in
society for forty-five years", adding that it was "built on lies, deception,
cunning, and intimidation".

Arrested 13 times, sentenced five times to a total of 31 years in prison and
154 lashes, and imprisoned again since 2021, Narges Mohammadi is one of the
women spearheading of the "Woman, Life, Freedom" uprising in Iran.

- An 'unstoppable process' -

The movement, which has seen women take off their headdresses, cut their hair
and demonstrate in the streets, was sparked by the death of a young 22-year-
old Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, last year after she was arrested in
Tehran for failing to comply with the strict Islamic dress code.

On Saturday, Armita Garawand, a 17-year-old ethnic Kurd, died a week after
she was declared "brain dead," after she had been hospitalised since October
1 after she fell unconscious on the metro.

Rights groups have said the teen was critically wounded during an alleged
assault by female members of Iran's morality police. The authorities dispute
this account, saying she suddenly fell ill.

"We, the people of Iran, demand democracy, freedom, human rights, and
equality, and the Islamic Republic is the main obstacle in the way of
realizing these national demands," Mohammadi said in her message.

"We... are struggling to transition away from this religious authoritarian
regime through solidarity and drawing on the power of a non-violent and
unstoppable process in order to revive the honor and pride of Iran and human
dignity and prestige for its people," she continued in the message from the
Evin prison.

"Victory is not easy, but it is certain," she concluded.

It was not disclosed how the message was smuggled out.