OSLO, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi was arrested in a "brutal" manner in Iran and must be released immediately, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the prize, said on Friday.
Mohammadi has previously served multiple sentences on charges including spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic. Late last year, she was released from Tehran's Evin prison after the suspension of her jail term to undergo medical treatment.
Mohammadi was awarded the award in 2023, following her three-decade campaign for women's rights and the abolition of the death penalty in Iran.
"The Norwegian Nobel Committee calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately clarify Mohammadi's whereabouts, ensure her safety and integrity, and to release her without conditions," the award body said in a statement.
The arrest comes a day after the arrival in Norway of this year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Venezuela's Maria Corina Machado, to collect her award.
"Given the close collaboration between the regimes in Iran and Venezuela, the Norwegian Nobel Committee notes that Ms Mohammadi is arrested just as the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado," said the committee.
(Reporting by Gwladys Fouché, editing by Anna Ringstrom and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen)
