The young Iranian Mahsa Amini and the 'Woman, Life and Freedom' movement, with which they protested against Iranian laws discriminatory against women after Amini's death, won this Thursday the Sakharov Prize for freedom of conscience granted by Parliament European.
"The brutal murder of Mahsa Amini has become a pivotal moment. It has activated a women-led movement that is becoming historic. The world has heard the cry of 'Woman, Life and Freedom', which has become a motto for those who defend equality, dignity and freedom in Iran," the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, announced to the chamber.
Following lengthy applause from MEPs, Metsola called for the award to serve "as a tribute to the brave and defiant women, men and young people in Iran who, despite mounting pressure, are leading the push for change." "The European Parliament listens to you, the world sees you and we are with you," stressed the president of the European Parliament.
Amini, who died just over a year ago in police custody after being detained by the so-called morality police for not wearing the Islamic veil, had been nominated by the three main groups in the European Parliament (popular, social democrats and liberals). and she was a clear favorite to win the award posthumously along with the movement that emerged after her death.
The Sakharov Prize, worth 50,000 euros, rewards an extraordinary contribution to the protection of freedom of conscience and is the highest tribute paid by the European Union to work in the field of human rights.
Representatives of the movement will collect the award in a ceremony during the December plenary session in Strasbourg (France).
Amini's death sparked strong protests that for months called for the end of the Islamic Republic and only disappeared after a repression that caused 500 deaths, the arrest of at least 22,000 people and in which seven protesters were executed, one of them in public.
The finalists in this edition were Nicaraguans Vilma Núñez de Escorcia, director of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights, and Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez Lagos, currently imprisoned for refusing to leave the country, who have fought for the rights of the population in their country against the Daniel Ortega regime.
Three women who fight for legal, safe and free abortion were also finalists: the Polish Justyna Wydrzynska, the Salvadoran Morena Herrera and the American Colleen McNichols.
