Award of the Sakharov Prize to Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi: extracts from the ceremony

By awarding the Sakharov Prize to two Iranian activists, lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and film director Jafar Panahi, the European Parliament acknowledges their plight and their outstanding efforts in their incessant struggle for human dignity, fundamental freedoms and political change in Iran, said President Martin Schulz at the Sakharov Prize award ceremony on Wednesday in Strasbourg. The laureates were not able to attend the ceremony in person because they are not allowed to leave Iran.