Iranian Nasrin Sotoudeh wins Council of Europe Havel Prize

Acampaigner against the death penalty and the compulsory use of the veil for women, Nasrin Sotoudeh “represented activists, journalists, minority members and children threatened with execution (...) despite recurrent arrests, long prison sentences and significant personal risks”, highlighted the institution based in Strasbourg.

First Iranian to receive this award, she was chosen to the detriment of compatriot Masih Alinejad, a journalist exiled in the United States and activist against the compulsory use of the veil, and Hungarian Marta Pardavi, co-chairman of a group defending the rights of asylum seekers.

“ At times like this, we remember our past struggles, our common ideals and the people who support us around the world. We renew the hope we share and say to ourselves: one day it will come true. One day, the sun of freedom will also shine on our country,” said 63-year-old lawyer in a video message sent from Tehran.

Mehraveh Khandan Heris, her daughter, was the one who went to Strasbourg to receive the prize, created in 2013 in honor of the former Czech dissident Vaclav Havel and endowed with €60,000.

Arrested in April by the Iranian authorities, Nasrin Sotoudeh, who received in 2012 the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, awarded by the European Parliament, was released on bail more than a month later, without disclosure of information on the reasons for the arrest. The lawyer had been arrested several times in the past.

His arrest takes place in the context of “concerns about his security and, more broadly, the repression of independent lawyers and human rights defenders” in Iran, the Council of Europe underlined.

Her husband, Reza Khandan, has been imprisoned since December 2024.

According to human rights organizations, thousands of people have been detained in Iran since the start of the Israeli-North American offensive against the Islamic Republic on 28 February.

Tehran acknowledged, however, more than 3,000 deaths in demonstrations against Iranian power in January, but attributed violence to “terrorist acts” orchestrated by the United States and Israel.