Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-10-26-Speech-5-149-000"
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"en.20121026.8.5-149-000"2
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"It is my honour to announce that the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2012 has been awarded by unanimous decision of the Conference of Presidents, and on behalf of all Members, to Ms Nasrin Sotoudeh and Mr Jafar Panahi of Iran.
With this award, we voice our solidarity with, and our admiration for, a woman and a man who have both defied fear and intimidation in Iran and decided to put their country’s fate ahead of their own.
Nasrin Sotoudeh has placed herself in the frontline in the battle for legal protection for human rights campaigners, journalists and opposition activists. On account of her courageous and noble actions, she was snatched away from her family and sentenced on charges of spreading anti-regime propaganda and harming national security to 11 years in prison.
Ladies and gentlemen, if the battle for freedom, if the battle for human rights, for personal dignity, for freedom from torture and the death penalty, for freedom of opinion and for justice in court proceedings represents an attack on national security, then we support these people in their attack on the national security of a regime that has no regard for any of these rights. The prize awarded to Ms Sotoudeh is also a resounding rejection of the Iranian regime.
Ladies and gentlemen, Jafar Panahi is one of the best-known and most internationally renowned Iranian film directors. His films are a lively portrait of a complex, rich and beautiful country and its people. As with every good portrait, this man shows not only the merits but also the complexities and the everyday problems of Iranians. Let us be clear: political regimes fear nothing more than the depiction of the bitter reality of life under their rule. That means that people like Mr Panahi have to be silenced.
Both Ms Sotoudeh and Mr Panahi stand for everything for which the European Union also stands, and we say to them loud and clear: you are not alone. I desperately hope that they will be able to travel to Strasbourg in December to receive their prize in this Chamber. I call on the Iranian authorities to do everything possible to allow that to happen.
I would like to thank all Members in this House who have played a part in the organisation of the Sakharov Prize this year. I would also like to stress that, having sat in this Chamber since 1994 and been involved, since then, in every award of the Sakharov Prize, in various capacities, I have never known the Conference of Presidents to be unanimous in its decision on the winner of the Sakharov Prize, without entertaining any other suggestion. It took about three minutes this morning to reach this decision, and I can remember the debates we had on previous occasions. That shows, ladies and gentlemen, that there is an overwhelming desire within this House to award the prize to Ms Sotoudeh and Mr Panahi. Once again, I offer my sincere congratulations to the winners."@en1
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