Iranian dissidents win Sakharov Prize

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Source: Aljazeera


Nasrin Sotoudeh, 49, is currently behind bars in Iran, serving a six-year sentence in solitary confinement

The European Union's prize for human rights and freedom of thought has been awarded to two Iranians, a lawyer and a filmmaker who have both been cut off from the outside world for defying the country's leadership.

Nasrin Sotoudeh, an imprisoned human rights lawyer, and Jafar Panahi, the filmmaker, were awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for their courage in defending their own and others' basic freedoms, the parliament said.

Named in honour of Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, the prize has been awarded by the European Parliament annually since 1988. The first recipients were Nelson Mandela and Anatoly Marchenko, a Russian author and dissident.

Marietje Schaake, a Dutch liberal member of the parliament who nominated Sotoudeh for the prize, said the recipients should draw attention to the repressive action carried out by the Iranian authorities towards human rights' activists. "These winners are true symbols of the long struggle the Iranian people face every day. The systematic repression, use of violence and censorship are felt by the entire population," she said.

Read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/10/20121026174050484855.html

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1. Nasrin Sotoudeh is on a hunger strike

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/10/imprisoned-lawyer-hunger-strike-iran.html

Imprisoned lawyer in Iran goes on hunger strike
October 18, 2012

TEHRAN -- An Iranian human rights lawyer whose jailing spurred an international outcry is now going on a hunger strike, frustrated by restrictions on her family, her husband said Thursday.

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Sotoudeh announced Wednesday that she was beginning an indefinite hunger strike, drinking water and nothing else. Her husband worries she is already physically fragile and weak.

The famed attorney was put into solitary confinement for “a lengthy period” and waged three earlier hunger strikes in protest against her arrest and detention conditions, Amnesty International reported this year. Her defense attorney has also faced threats of arrests, the rights group said.

Sotoudeh had spoken out after being blindsided by the execution of 20-year-old Arash Rahmanipour, convicted of “taking up arms against God” for alleged involvement in an illegal monarchist group. The young man was executed at dawn without any notice to his attorney.

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She's in jail for not wearing a scarf, and speaking out against the secret execution of her client:

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/08/world/la-fg-iran-lawyer8-2010feb08

Iran human rights lawyer's sentence criticized

Amnesty International says Nasrin Sotoudeh, who received an 11-year prison term, is a prisoner of conscience. France calls for her release.

January 11, 2011|By Meris Lutz, Los Angeles Times

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Nasrin Sotoudeh, reportedly convicted of acting against national security and failing to wear the Islamic head scarf, was also banned Sunday from practicing law or traveling for 20 years.

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She aroused the ire of the judiciary when she spoke out about the secret execution of one of her clients, who was convicted of belonging to an outlawed monarchist group and hanged before dawn Jan. 28, 2010, without Sotoudeh's knowledge.

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[AAO]

2. I would say "God, help us!" if I wasn't an apathiest. I hope they both can be released soon.