Mr. Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of Zhina Mahsa Amini’s family, was interrogated on Friday night, December 22, 2023, immediately upon arrival at a Tehran airport.
Security officials confiscated Mr. Saleh Nikbakht’s passport and cellphone, as well as the Sakharov Prize plaque that he received from the European Parliament.
Saleh Nikbakht received the Sakharov Prize on behalf of the family of Zhina Mahsa Amini at a ceremony at the European Parliament on December 12, 2023.
The clerical regime’s authorities banned the family of Zhina Mahsa Amini from travelling to Strasbourg to receive the award granted to their slain daughter. Amjad Amini, Mojgan Eftekhari, and Ashkan Amini, the father, mother, and brother of Zhina Mahsa Amini were supposed to fly to Strasbourg on Friday night, December 8. But they were barred from leaving and their passports were confiscated at the airport.
Mr. Nikbakht, 72, had been already sentenced to one year in prison on charges of “propaganda against the state.” He was also barred from activity in cyber space for two years. Saleh Nikbakht has defended many political prisoners and death row prisoners in recent years.
