Amini wins Sakharov Prize: Will it help Iranian women?

Thursday's announcement that Jina Mahsa Amini — and the Woman, Life and Freedom Movement in Iran — has won the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize was welcomed by the EU institution's president.

"These brave women, men and young people have inspired the world through their fight for equality, liberty & dignity," Roberta Metsola posted on social media.

German MEP Hannah Neumann also took to social media to say that the award to Amini was "a strong sign that this house stands in unwavering solidarity with all those fighting for a free and democratic Iran."

Amini's death while in custody after her arrest by Iran's "morality police" sparked unprecedented protests against the country's hardline Shiite regime, but will the EU award reinvigorate hope among women in the Islamic Republic, and where will their fight for freedom be in the years to come?

Amini's legacy

Jina Mahsa Amini is not the first Iranian to win the Sakharov Prize. In 2012, Nasrin Sotoudeh and fellow Iranian activist Jafar Panahi were recognized for their endeavors by the European Parliament.

The prize was awarded to Sotoudeh while she was still in prison, and it "reinforced" her belief. "And to this day, I have continued to work tirelessly," she told DW.

"I am confident that this award belongs to Mahsa, who should now be remembered as the initiator of the women's freedom movement," she continued. "I believe that dedicating this prize to Mahsa will contribute to the continuity of a movement that we should consider as one in which people of all ethnicities, religions, and different ideologies have participated. I can't think of any effect this prize can have other than strengthening this movement and ensuring its continuity."

Earlier this month, imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for "her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all."

The Iranian lawyer and rights activist Shirin Ebadi told DW that Mohammadi's peace prize would "draw international attention to human rights violations in Iran, particularly the discriminatory treatment of women."

Sadly, Jina Mahsa Amini will never receive her accolade following her death in September 2022. Whether her legacy and the award of the 2023 Sakharov Prize will attract the attention Ebadi hopes remains to be seen.

Previous Sakharov Prize winners

Nelson Mandela won the first Sakharov Prize in 1988 — along with Soviet human rights campaigner Anatoly Marchenko — two years before his release from Cape Town's Victor Verster Prison. The anti-apartheid activist would go on to become president of South Africa.

If Mandela's story is one of success for a Sakharov Prize winner, there are others whose fight for freedom continues.

When Aung San Suu Kyi won the prize in 1990, the opposition politician was known for her peaceful struggle against military rule in Myanmar. It was 23 years, however, before she could accept the prize in person, as she was under house arrest throughout that time. Another 10 years on, and Suu Kyi is once more constrained behind bars following a 2021 military coup in the Southeast Asian country.

In 2013, Malala Yousafzai became the youngest-ever laureate of the Sakharov Prize. The 16-year-old Pakistani campaigner was recognized for her efforts in attaining education for girls.

More recent winners of the Sakharov Prize have included the democratic opposition in Belarus, spearheaded by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and Russia's anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny. Last year's award was given to the people of Ukraine "protecting democracy, freedom and rule of law" following the 2022 full-scale Russian invasion.

Tsikhanouskaya is currently exiled following the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests against the regime of strongman President Alexander Lukashenko, who is approaching three decades in power.

Kremlin critic Navalny remains behind bars in his homeland, accused of "extremism" and several other crimes according to Russia's Criminal Code, which was amended in 2022. In August, a Russian court extended Navalny's prison term by 19 years after a closed-door trial that his supporters described as a sham.

Women, Life, Freedom in Iran

Women in Iran can face severe consequences, including death, simply for showing their hair in public. Going outside without a headscarf is forbidden by a strict "morality" code that is enforced by roving squads of police in major cities.

Earlier this month, the world received another reminder of the brutality faced by Iranian women. Activists say a 16-year-old girl was beaten into a coma by the so-called "morality police" in Tehran's subway because she was not wearing a hijab.

"Since the founding of the Islamic Republic in Iran in 1979, women have been systematically oppressed. Those who don't conform are punished. Women who resist, like me and other human rights activists, defy this system. Those in power try everything they can to break us and silence us," Nobel laureate Mohammadi told DW in a June 2021 interview, which was conducted before she began her latest prison sentence.

John Silk

Mohammadi's husband, Taghi Rahmani, told DW that "civil institutions in foreign countries will exert pressure on their governments to consider human rights as one of the most important aspects in their relations" with Iran.

"Governments should understand that freedom in a globalized world is an issue of international importance," he added.

John Silk is a journalist at Deutsche Welle.

Disclaimer: This article first appeared on DW, and is published by special syndication arrangement.