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The European Parliament has awarded this year's Sakharov Prize to Zhina Amini and the Women, Life, Freedom movement.
On Thursday, October 19, 2023, one year after the martyrdom of Zhina Amini (a Kurdish girl from Saqqez, East part of Kurdistan, who was martyred by Iranian police in Tehran), the European Parliament announced the most prestigious European Human Rights Prize (Sakharov) will be presented to Zhina Amini and the Women, Life, Freedom Movement in Iran and East part of Kurdistan.
The European Parliament announced the Sakharov Prize ceremony will be held on December 13, 2023, in Strasbourg, France.
"The murder of Zhina Amini marked a turning point in Iran and led to the formation of a historic women-led movement," European Parliament President Roberto Metsola said when announcing the news.
He continued, "The European Parliament is proud to be with brave people who are fighting for equality, dignity, and freedom in Iran. We are also supporting people who are still fighting in prisons of the Islamic Republic of Iran to protect the Women, Life, Freedom movement."
Sakharov Prize
The Sakharov Prize, named after Andrei Sakharov, a scientist and opponent of the former Soviet Union, is the European Union's most important human rights prize that was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament. Since 1988, the Sakharov Prize has been awarded annually by the European Parliament to one or more human rights and democracy activists.
The Sakharov Prize is generally awarded annually on December 10, the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 and World Human Rights Day.
In 2016, two Kurdish Yazidi girls from the South part of Kurdistan, Nadia Murad and Lamia Haji Bashar, who were arrested by the terrorist group ISIS were awarded. They had received Sakharov after their release and talked about ISIS's crimes against Yazidi women. "Nadia Murad and Lamia Haji Bashar are two very strong women who are fighting for their communities," said Martin Schulz, then President of the European Parliament. Before the two Kurdish girls, in 1995, Leila Zana, a politician from the northern part of Kurdistan, was awarded the prize.
The award was previously presented in 2012 to two Iranians, Jafar Panahi and Nasrin Sotudeh.
Last year, 2022, the European Parliament awarded the prize to Ukrainian director and screenwriter Oleg Sentnesov.
Previously, people such as "Nelson Mandela, the famous apartheid prisoner and former president of South Africa, Alexander Dobecik, the leader of the Czech Socialist Republic in the 1968 Prague Spring events, Taslima Nasreen, a Bangladeshi writer and feminist, and Malala Yousafzai Pakistanian girl who was shot by the Taliban" received the Sakharov Prize.
The Zhina Revolution or Women, Life, Freedom Movement
Zhina Amini, a Kurdish girl from Saqqez, East part of Kurdistan, was killed in September 2022 after being arrested by the Iranian Morality Police. The Iranian government has so far denied the killing of Zhina Amini and has created many scenarios for this purpose.
However, the murder of Zhina Amini led to a revolution known as the Zhina Revolution or the Women, Life, Freedom Movement. During this year, people of different nationalities in Iran have taken to the streets in various ways against ethnic oppression, gender inequality, forced hijab, and oppression of women, etc. These uprisings and protests have resulted in hundreds of martyrs and thousands of injured, and heavy punishments (death penalty, imprisonment, whipping, fines, etc.) have been imposed on thousands of people.
