The laureate of this year’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of the family of Jina Mahsa Amini, delivers a statement in the award ceremony in Strasbourg. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

plenary session

Human rights (T2)

ceremony

Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought 2023 (T)

Award of the Sakharov Prize 2023: Statement by Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of the family of Jina Mahsa Amini

SOUNDBITE (Farsi), Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of the family of Jina Mahsa Amini, Honourable President of the European Parliament, Honourable representatives of more than 650 million people of Europe. Ladies and gentlemen. I am very grateful to have this honour to be here as the representative of Jina Masha Amini's family today and in this Parliament. I can read Jina's mother's message, which is the message from the whole family.

SOUNDBITE (Farsi), Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of the family of Jina Mahsa Amini, This is a great honour for me. I wish Mrs. Mojgan, after hurry herself or another lady could read this message because the rising of Iranian people last year. Since the day Jina Masha was arrested, this uprising started by women. And women led this uprising. Men accompanied them.

SOUNDBITE (Farsi), Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of the family of Jina Mahsa Amini, The result was what you saw, and it was echoed around the air, and the slogan of Women, Life, Freedom, that started being expressed first in Kurdistan, it took all over the world, in all over our country, Iran, and over all Middle East.

SOUNDBITE (Farsi), Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of the family of Jina Mahsa Amini, I read this message on behalf of a grieving mother filled with feeling and motherly love to her daughter. As Mrs. Metsola said, she was a beautiful woman who had very high ambitions to serve humanity. She wanted to become a medical doctor. I should say, part of this message is in Kurdish. I hope one day we will have translators into Kurdish as well.

SOUNDBITE (Farsi), Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of the family of Jina Mahsa Amini, She is all my heart. She is my life, my blood. There is no space for belief or disbelief. My existence has no reason but her. You are the dear sense of spring. You are the delicate fragrance of the rose brought by the breeze from blissful fields. You are the perfume of scorched earth after rain, my darling. Through the crack of my darkened window, I look for the eyes of the daughter of light. Of all the songs that time murmurs, I listen to the whisper of the tiny pebbles of the pure soars.

SOUNDBITE (Farsi), Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of the family of Jina Mahsa Amini, Ladies and gentlemen, I wish I could be present in your honourable assembly, to represent all women of my land in expressing gratitude for the granting of the Sakharov Prize, the EP&rsquo;s token of freedom of spirit. Unfortunately, we were denied this opportunity in violation of all legal and human standards. Our attorney Mr. Saleh Nikbakht, accompanied by Mrs. Soheila Ghaderi will represent us and transmit our message to you. 

SOUNDBITE (Farsi), Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of the family of Jina Mahsa Amini, We are here in the birthplace of Joan of Arc to honour Jina&rsquo;s memory. How magnificent and meaningful is the coming together of these two inspirational daughters of History across centuries, those who with their death crossed borders and revived the aspiration for human emancipation and liberty. Jina is the incarnation of life,

SOUNDBITE (Farsi), Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of the family of Jina Mahsa Amini, her name became a secret code for freedom and spread the dream of liberty from her birthplace, Kurdistan, all over Iran, the Middle East and the world. It set in motion millions of oppressed women and human beings in the hope of a journey towards the endless horizon of salvation.

SOUNDBITE (Farsi), Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of the family of Jina Mahsa Amini, Her life was taken unjustly. Her life was taken unjustly, they believed that by taking her life, they will stop her from being and becoming. In the same way as the oppressors believed that by burning the body of Joan of Arc, they will make her dreams disappear in smoke. They did not know, and still don&rsquo;t know that from the ashes of Joan of Arc and Jina, an unbeatable and inspirational spirit will rise, like a Phoenix: The Zeitgeist. These two Zeitgeists have now joined each other across centuries, to announce the good news of eternal salvation. They are the promise of realization of elevated human values, embodied in the progressive slogan &ldquo;Woman, Life, Freedom&rdquo;,

<p>SOUNDBITE (Farsi), Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of the family of Jina Mahsa Amini, Values that rise above borders, time, and place. Justice, freedom, peace, coexistence, and equality of all human beings. Ladies, gentlemen, people of the world! Jina&rsquo;s grief is eternal to me, and she is undying for people all over the world. I firmly believe that her name, beside that of Joan of Arc, will remain as a symbol of freedom. From the birthplace of eternal Jina, </p>

SOUNDBITE (Farsi), Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of the family of Jina Mahsa Amini, I convey to you my and my family&rsquo;s endless gratitude and I hope that you will stand firm and proud by your great choice. Let&rsquo;s hope that no voice will fear pronouncing liberty. Mojgan Eftekhari, Jina Amini&rsquo;s mother