EPAA protester with photos of victims of the Iranian regime, including Amini
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 00:48
The brother and parents of the Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini has been stopped by authorities at an airport in Iran. They were on their way to France to receive an important European human rights award. Their passports were confiscated at the airport and they were not allowed to board, the BBC reports.
The three wanted to go to Strasbourg for the presentation of the Sakharov Prize, the European Union’s most important human rights prize, next Tuesday. According to the family’s lawyer, the three had valid visas, but were nevertheless not allowed to board the plane.
22-year-old Mahsa Amini died last year after being violently arrested by the moral police. According to the officers, she wore her headscarf much too loose. Her death sparked months of protests in Iran. Amini was awarded the Sakharov Prize posthumously, together with the protest movement Women, Life, Freedom.
The family’s lawyer says it is the first time that Iranian authorities have taken action in this way to “prevent relatives of victims from addressing the international community.”
President of the European Parliament: let them go
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, has called on the Iranian regime to immediately reverse the decision and allow the family to fly to France. “They should be in Strasbourg at the European Parliament to receive the Sakharov Prize, together with the brave women of Iran.”
Last September, on the anniversary of the 22-year-old woman’s death, Mahsa Amini’s father was detained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. He was warned not to draw public attention to his daughter’s death, a human rights group said.
In October, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to a leader of the Iranian movement, Narges Mohammadi. She was already imprisoned as a dissident when the mass protests began, but arranged expressions of support and solidarity actions from prison.
What is the Sakharov Prize?
The Sakharov Prize comes with a prize of EUR 50,000. Any MEP may nominate for the prize, provided there is support from forty members of parliament. The faction leaders ultimately award the prize. In addition to Amini, human rights activists from Nicaragua and abortion advocates from the US, Poland and El Salvador were also nominated this year.
The prize is named after Russian dissident Andrei Sakharov and is intended to provide support for individuals and organizations committed to human rights. Last year, the Ukrainian people were singled out because of Russia’s invasion.
2023-12-09 23:48:43
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