26.10.2012

Sakharov Prize gives a voice to oppressed Iranian people

Elmar Brok MEP and José Ignacio Salafranca MEP
„The 2012 Sakharov Prize is testimony to bravery and resilience in the face of an oppressive regime, which used force to squash the protest of thousands of people in Iran who took to the streets in search of freedom. While their own government silenced their voices with the help of guns, their desperate cries have been heard in Strasbourg“, the Chairman of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Elmar Brok MEP, and the EPP Group Coordinator in the Foreign Affairs Committee, José Ignacio Salafranca MEP, said.

The European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents today decided to award the 2012 Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought to Iranian lawyer and human rights advocate Nasrin Sotoudeh, and Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi.

„The award represents the millions of Iranians who wish to lead a life without an increasingly authoritarian government telling them what to do and think. The Sakharov Prize gives a voice to the Iranian people who are oppressed by their own government.“

For further information:
Elmar BROK MEP, Tel: +32-22845323
José Ignacio SALAFRANCA SÁNCHEZ-NEYRA MEP, Tel: +32-2-2845603
Lasse Böhm, EPP Group Press and Communications Service, Tel: +32-484-656897