Her opposition to the mandatory veiling for women in Iran, as well as the death penalty, won the Iranian woman Narges Mohammadi the Nobel Peace Prize, but she received the news in prison, a place she has visited repeatedly since 22 years ago because of her fight for women’s rights.

Following the announcement by the Norwegian Nobel committee, US President Joe Biden pushed for the release of the activist, who he said had suffered repeated arrests, persecution and torture by the Iranian regime. She was imprisoned in Evin prison, sentenced to 16 years in prison, while in Oslo Berit Reiss-Andersen, the president of the committee, explains that Mohammadi was awarded “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and the fight to promote human rights and freedoms for all.”

The immediate reaction of the Iranian government was to condemn the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Mohammadi.

The world has changed. When rights are involved, political arguments for sovereignty break down beyond repair.

Leaders must understand that in globalization, the fight against injustice, violations of rights and freedoms has no boundaries. This is why men and women around the world are demanding the release of the activist, who even from prison joined the movement condemning the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini a year ago, detained for allegedly violating the dress code that governs Iran, where women must wear the veil.

The laws of each country must be respected, but codes that encroach on personal freedoms are something else, incomprehensible in the 21st century.

What is being raised in the world is not voices against the use of the veil or hijab, but for respecting the individual’s freedom to choose whether to wear it or not. Freedom of choice and rights, in this case of women, is the reason why this Nobel is awarded. (OR)