Murdered Iranian activist awarded Sakharov Human Rights Prize

The European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Human Rights Prize to late Iranian activist Mahsa Gina Amini at a ceremony held on Tuesday, December 12 in Strasbourg, France.

Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of Mahsa Amini's family, received this award on behalf of her family.

Since 1988, the Sakharov Prize has been awarded annually to individuals and organizations that defend human rights and freedom.

In September 2022, Mahsa Amini's death in the hands of Iranian regime forces led to the "Women, Life, Freedom" protest movement in Iran.

Initially, the parents and brother of Gina Amini were supposed to receive the award in Strasbourg, but the authorities of the Islamic Republic prevented them from travelling and confiscated their passports.

Before the awarding of the Sakharov Prize, Mrs Roberta Metsula, the President of the European Parliament, criticized the Islamic Republic of Iran for preventing the family of Mahsa Amini from travelling to receive the award, saying that the people of Iran face such restrictions and pressures daily.

Metsoula described the courage and resistance of Iranian women as unstoppable in their efforts to achieve justice, freedom and human rights.

Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of Mehsa Amini's family, appeared on their behalf at the headquarters of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, and read the message of Mozhgan Eftekhari, the mother of the murdered activist.

On Tuesday, during a ceremony on behalf of Mahsa Gina Amini and the movement, the award was presented to Merceda Shahinkar, who lost her eye during protests, and Afsun Najafi, the sister of Hadis Najafi, one of the victims of the revolutionary uprising.

Mozhgan Eftekhari said in her message, which was read by Saleh Nikkhbet, that grief of Zina's death is eternal for her and stressed that her daughter's name would remain as a symbol of freedom along with the name of Jean-Darque (French national hero).

In the message, she also mentioned the travel ban on her and her family and said that the Islamic Republic denied them the opportunity to attend this event and receive the Freedom Symbol Award of the European Parliament against all legal and humanitarian standards.

In response to this incident on Monday, 188 members of the European Parliament asked the Islamic Republic to allow Mehsa Gina Amini's family to leave the country to receive the Sakharov Prize.

They said that this restriction was made to silence the Amini family so that they could not condemn the repressions of the Islamic Republic.

At the ceremony, the President of the European Parliament, Weberta Mtsula, called the defence of the dignity of every human being and universal acceptance of human rights as comprehensive challenges that still exist and said that the European Parliament has been working in this field for 35 years with the Sakharov Prize.

She described Mahsa Gina Amini as "a girl with dreams of a better life" and said her murder showed the disgusting injustice of the authorities of the Islamic Republic, but later, her voice was echoed in the streets by all Iranians.

According to the president of the European Parliament, since Mehsa's murder, hundreds of protesters have been killed and thousands of people have been arrested in Iran.