Nasrin Sotoudeh, the Iranian human rights lawyer serving an 11-year prison
sentence for “conspiring against state security” could not be present in
Strasbourg on Wednesday, when the European Parliament awarded her the
prestigious Sakharov prize.
Yet Sotoudeh – a 47-year-old mother of two
known for representing opposition activists and minors sentenced to the death
penalty – nevertheless gave a moving speech from Tehran’s notorious Evin
Prison.
“I have only one dream; the dream of the realization of justice,”
Sotoudeh said through her representative, Dr. Shirin Abadi.
“Democracy
has a long and difficult road ahead, but we have never lost our hope in the
future,” she added.
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, under house arrest in
Iran, was awarded the Sakharov prize alongside Sotoudeh.
“The question
is: why do the governments, the almighty and powerful, become more intolerant
every day?” Panahi said via his representative filmmaker Costa Gavras.
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