On 12 December in the Iranian city of Mashhad, during a commemoration ceremony for Khosro Ali Kurdi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, activists Sepideh Qoliyan, Buran Nazimi, and five other activists were detained.
The families of human right activists Narges Mohammadi and Aliyeh Motalebzadeh shared a message on digital media regarding the situation of the detainees.
In a message posted on X, Narges Mohammadi’s family stated that they were able to speak with their daughter by phone after three days, and that she reported being attacked by Iranian state forces during the commemoration ceremony and detained using violence.
It was reported that during her detention she was told, “We will send your mother to mourning as well,” and that due to the severe injuries she sustained during the assault at the time of her arrest, Narges Mohammadi was taken to hospital. It was also stated that she was accused of “collaborating with the state of Israel.”
Aliyeh Motalebzadeh’s daughter, Xezel Abdullahi, also shared information about her mother on X, saying: “On Sunday evening I spoke with my mother, Aliyeh Motalebzadeh. While under the control of Iranian security forces, she told me that during her interrogation by Branch 901 she was sentenced to one month in prison on charges of ‘assembly and conspiracy.’”
Xezel Abdullahi added that due to the torture and severe injuries her mother suffered, she received initial medical treatment, but her health condition has deteriorated because she has not been allowed to continue her breast cancer treatment.
Reactions against the detention of human rights activists in Iran have rapidly spread worldwide; the European Union, the Nobel Committee, and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have called for the immediate release of the activists.