Sakharov Prize 2023 granted to Zhina Mahsa Amini, and Iranian women’s protest movement
President of the European Parliament: This is not a prize. We hope to show the strongest of messages and the clearest of signals to our sisters in Iran that we will continue to stand by them.
We have asked the EU to include the IRGC in EU’s terrorist list. This is not a position that we will let go of.
On Tuesday, December 12, 2023, the European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Prize to Zhina Mahsa Amini and the Women, Life, Freedom Movement at a ceremony during the Plenary Session presided by Ms. Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament. Mr. Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, was also in attendance.
The award was given to Mr. Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of the family of Zhina Mahsa Amini on their behalf, as well as Ms. Afsoon Najafi, the sister of Hadiss Najafi, who was killed by security forces during the 2022 Iran protests, and Ms. Mersedah Shahin Kar, an athlete who lost one of her eyes during the 2022 Iran uprising.
On December 8, the clerical regime banned the family of Zhina Mahsa Amini from leaving the country to receive this award and confiscated the passports of her father, mother, and brother at the airport.
The EP President Roberta Metsola expressed her dismay over the Iranian regime’s prevention of the departure of the family of Zhina Mahsa Amini to receive their daughter’s award. She said, “Their treatment is another example of what the people of Iran face every day.”
President Metsola added, “Let me say that the courage and resilience of Iranian women in their fight for justice, liberty and human rights will not be stopped. Their voices cannot be silenced… Since her (Zhina Mahsa Amini) killing, hundreds more protestors have reportedly been killed and thousands have been detained.”
The message of the mother and family of Zhina Mahsa Amini to the EP
At the awards ceremony, the Amini family’s lawyer read the message of Mrs. Mojgan Eftekhari, Zhina’s mother. Part of this message reads: “I would have loved to be present in your precious gathering, to personally and on behalf of all the women of my land, thank you donors of the precious Sakharov Prize, the symbol of freedom award of the European Parliament. Unfortunately, contrary to all legal and humanitarian standards, they denied me this opportunity.”
Metsola: EP stands with the people of Iran in their push for change
In a press conference before the ceremony, the President of the European Parliament said, “This year’s Sakharov Prize serves as a tribute to all the brave and defiant women, men, and young people in Iran who, despite coming under increasing pressure, are continuing the push for change…
“The European Parliament hears you and supports you. We have adopted four resolutions over the last year condemning the Iranian regime’s unacceptable attempts to silence protesters and demanding sanctions against officials involved in the protesters’ repression. To you and all the unknown and the numerous, so many women who dared to start a revolution: You are not alone. We are with you.”
In response to questions posed at the press conference, the EP President said, “You mentioned the four resolutions, all of which have very severely condemned, and repeatedly so, the anti-women policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We want to go further. We have asked the European Union, and its members states, to increase its sanctions targeting Iranian officials responsible for the extremely violent crackdown and to include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in EU’s terrorist list. This is not a position that we will let go of. It is extremely important to us.”
She also said, “I am very clear, that this is not a prize for the sake of being a prize. (And we hope) to show the strongest of messages and the clearest of signals to our sisters in Iran that we will continue to stand by them.”
