Iran has banned relatives of the young Kurdish woman who died after being detained for abusing her veil from traveling to receive the Sakharov Prize awarded to her posthumously, a lawyer announced on Saturday.
Mahsa Amini’s parents and brother were “not allowed to board the flight that would take them to France for the Sakharov Prize presentation,” said Chirinne Ardakani, the family’s lawyer in France.
Amini’s relatives were not allowed to leave the country at midnight last night [sexta-feira]Despite having visas, their passports were confiscated,” he added, as quoted by French agency AFP.
In October, the European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Prize to Mahsa Amini and the ‘Women, Life and Freedom’ movement, which was bloodily suppressed by the Iranian authorities.
The Sakharov Prize is the European Union’s highest honor in the field of human rights.
Mahsa Amini died on September 16, 2022, three days after he was arrested by Iranian customs police for wearing an ill-fitting veil.
The 22-year-old’s death sparked months of large-scale demonstrations against Iran’s political and religious leaders, whose repression resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests.
“The brutal murder of Mahsa Amini marked a turning point,” European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said when announcing the award.
“The slogan ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ has become a rallying cry for all those who defend equality, dignity and freedom in Iran,” he added.
On November 23, the European Parliament condemned the “brutal murders of women committed by the Iranian authorities, including that of 2023 Sakharov Prize winner Mahsa Amini.”
MEPs also called for the “immediate release of all victims of arbitrary detention and human rights defenders”, including Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, winner of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize.
“While the Nobel Prize is being awarded at the same time, Iranian authorities have never been more mobilized to prevent the families of the victims from speaking to the international community,” said lawyer Chirinne Ardakani.
Source: DN
