By Alexandra Sandacz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
STRASBOURG, France – On Friday, the European Union gave its largely respected human rights award to two Iranian activists, an imprisoned lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, and a formerly imprisoned filmmaker, Jafar Panahi.
The European Union awards the Sakharov Prize to an individuals or groups dedicated to the defense of human rights and freedom of thought. The award was created in December of 1988 and is named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov.
European Parliament President, Martin Schulz, stated, “The award… 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 jailed Russian punk band, Pussy Riot, and a Belarussian civil rights activist, Ales Beliatsky, were also nominees this year.
Co-winner, Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer, is known for her defense of opposition activists. Sotoudeh also defended women who were jailed for demanding equality, and journalists who were punished for expressing their opinions. Often times, she took these important cases pro bono work and insisting Iranian authorities uphold the rule of law and justice. She is currently serving a six-year jail sentence for “acting against the national security” and “propaganda against the regime”.
Schultz announced, “If the fight for freedom, if the fight for human rights, for human dignity, for freedom from torture and against the death sentence, for freedom of opinion and for justice in criminal proceedings is an attack on national security, then we support this person in her attack on the national security of a regime that does not respect any of these fundamental rights. The prize for Mrs. Sotoudeh is a clear rejection of the regime in Iran.”
The other recipient, Jafar Panahi, a director, is regarded for his humanist films on life in Iran. While facing his own arrests in 2009 and 2010, some of his colleagues were also sent to jail for their outspoken criticism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In 2010, he was placed under house arrest and banned from filmmaking for 20 years. Despite his filmmaking restrictions, his 2011 documentary, This is Not a Film, was secretly smuggled out of the country on a USB drive that was hidden in a cake.
Schulz continued, “As in every good portrait, [Jafar Panahi in his films] shows not only the merits but also the contradictions and the daily problems of Iranians. State regimes clearly fear nothing more than the portrayal of the bitter reality that reigns inside their nations. And this is why people like Mr. Panahi are silenced in such regimes.”
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that the imprisoned Iranian co-winners will make it to Strasbourg for the ceremony on December 12.
For further information, please see:
BBC News — Iran dissidents Sotoudeh and Panahi win Sakharov prize – 26 October 2012
International Business Times — EU Awards Iranian Dissidents With Sakharov Prize – 26 October 2012
The New York Times – European Rights Award Given to Convicted Iranians – 26 October 2012
RFE/RL – Iranians Win Sakharov Free-Thought Prize – 26 October 2012
