My cellmate heroines and the real value of free speech

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe shared a bunk with one of Evin prison’s pillars of resilience. She tells of what she learned about Iran’s state-sponsored cancel culture and repression

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ON October 6, the Nobel prize committee awarded Narges Mohammadi, the human rights activist imprisoned in Iran, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize. That seems long ago given all we have witnessed since. This was the second time an Iranian woman has been awarded such an honourable prize within the course of 20 years. The first, Shirin Ebadi, is in exile, and Narges as the second sits in prison.

For decades, women of Iran have been fighting for their rights under the Islamic Republic. There is no freedom of speech for these women and many have faced dire consequences for trying to voice their opinions. For many of us, the Nobel Peace Prize has been a chance to shine a light on the struggle of Iranian women, and highlight some of their voices.

Narges is only one of the many inspirational women I met in Evin prison. When I was transferred to the Evin female political ward at the end of 2016, I was given a bunk bed next to someone who has been imprisoned for nine years, Fariba Kamalabadi. I was told to be mindful of her condition after she had endured nearly a decade. Prison was still raw to me. It felt inconceivable at that time that someone could survive injustice for so long. I was so cautious when stepping down the creaky metal ladder of the bunk bed, avoiding any rattle which might disturb her tranquility.

Despite her prolonged imprisonment, Fariba was one of the calmest women in the ward. Mahvash Shahriari was another inmate who was arrested at the same time with her and served an equal number of years in prison.