Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi awarded with the Sakharov Prize

Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi win this year’s Sakharov. For President Martin Schulz the award of the Prize for Freedom of Thought to the two Iranians is “a message of solidarity and recognition to a woman and a man who have not been bowed by fear and intimidation and who have decided to put the fate of their country before their own.”

The Prize for Freedom of Thought is awarded annually by the European Parliament to individuals or organizations that have made an important contribution to the fight for human rights or democracy. Last year it was given to The Arab Spring. The two other finalists were Ales Bialiatski and Pussy Riot but Parliament preferred Sotoudeh and Panahi. “I sincerely hope they will be able to come in person to Strasbourg to the European Parliament to collect their prize in December”, said President Schulz, announcing the winner after the meeting.

Nasrin Sotoudeh is an Iranian lawyer and human rights advocate. She was arrested in September 2010 on charges of spreading propaganda and conspiring to harm state security and has been held in solitary confinement. She has represented opposition activists imprisoned following Iran’s disputed June 2009 presidential elections, juveniles facing the death penalty, women and prisoners of conscience.

Jafar Panahi after Abbas Kiarostami is the most known Iranian filmmaker, screenwriter and film editor. He has won numerous awards. In 2010 he was arrested for his anti-regime activism, handed a six-year jail sentence and a 20-year ban on making or directing any movies, writing screenplays. Panahi broke the ban imposed on him and made the documentary feature This Is Not a Film in 2011. The documentary was smuggled out of Iran and presented in the opening of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

“I am particularly delighted that for the first time this prize has been awarded to Iranian citizens and in light of current developments it is also a timely moment” reacted Guy Verhofstadt that added “Their voices resonate the world over, and keep our focus on the terrible repression, violence and censorship Iranians face every day. While the negotiations on the nuclear program are occupying the political agenda´s, today the people of Europe send the strongest sign of support to the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom, dignity and justice.”

President Schulz will award the prize at a formal sitting of Parliament during the December plenary session, in Strasbourg. A delegation of five MEPs is set to travel to Teheran for a one week mission (from 27 October to 2 November) for the fourth of Parliament’s regular meetings with the Majlis (Iranian parliament). We will see how the Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s regime will react to the award of the Prize to Sotoudeh e Panahi.

 To know more:

– The Sakharov Prize website http://www.europarl.europa.eu/aboutparliament/en/00f3dd2249/Sakharov-Prize-for-Freedom-of-Thought.html

– Sakharov Prize, Pussy Riot and the Iranian filmaker Panahi nominated https://www.eunews.it/premio-sakharov-tra-i-candidati-le-pussy-riot-e-il-regista-iraniano-panahi/?lang=en