Current:Home > FinanceEU remembers Iranian woman who died in custody at awarding of Sakharov human rights prize -Pinnacle Profit Strategies
EU remembers Iranian woman who died in custody at awarding of Sakharov human rights prize
View
Date:2025-04-17 06:12:44
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Parliament on Tuesday remembered a young woman who died in police custody in Iran last year, during a ceremony at which she and a Iranian human rights group were officially awarded the EU’s top human rights prize.
Parliament President Roberta Metsola deplored that even part of Mahsa Amini’s family was not allowed to attend the event for the awarding of the Sakharov Prize at the EU legislature’s plenary.
“They are under a travel ban imposed by the Iranian regime. Their treatment is another example of what the people of Iran face every day,” Metsola said.
Amini, 22, died in September 2022, three days after she was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating Iran’s mandatory headscarf law. While authorities said she suffered a heart attack, Amini’s supporters said she was beaten by police and died as a result of her injuries.
The EU said her death triggered a women-led movement in Iran, and representatives of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran were in Strasbourg, France, to attend the solemn ceremony.
The 27-nation EU has imposed sanctions on Iranian officials and organizations — including ministers, military officers and Iran’s morality police — for human rights abuses over the protests.
“This year’s Sakharov Prize serves as a tribute to all the brave and defiant women, men and young people in Iran who, despite coming under increasing pressure, are continue the push for change,” Metsola said.
Amini’s death triggered protests that spread across the country and rapidly escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s four-decade-old Islamic theocracy.
Authorities responded with a violent crackdown in which more than 500 people were killed and over 22,000 others were detained, according to rights groups. The demonstrations largely died down early this year, but there are still widespread signs of discontent. For several months, women could be seen openly flaunting the headscarf rule in Tehran and other cities, prompting a renewed crackdown over the summer.
The EU award, named for Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, was created in 1988 to honor individuals or groups who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms. Sakharov, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, died in 1989.
veryGood! (7575)
Related
- Average rate on 30
- Child rights advocates ask why state left slain 5-year-old Kansas girl in a clearly unstable home
- Hackers attack Guatemalan government webpages in support of pro-democracy protests
- IDF reservist offers harrowing description of slaughters and massacres of Israeli civilians
- The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
- Vanderpump Rules' Tom Sandoval Still Doesn't Understand Why His Affair Was Such a Big Deal
- Cricket’s Olympic return draws an enthusiastic response from around the world
- Sports, internet bets near-record levels in New Jersey, but 5 of 9 casinos trail pre-pandemic levels
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- What is certain in life? Death, taxes — and a new book by John Grisham
Ranking
- Bodycam footage shows high
- What is curcumin? Not what you might think.
- UN aid chief says six months of war in Sudan has killed 9,000 people
- Venezuela and opposition to resume talks in Barbados, mediator Norway says
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- Arrest made in airport parking garage shooting that killed Philadelphia officer and injured another
- Jewish people around the world grieve and pray for peace in first Shabbat services since Hamas attack
- Illinois man killed Muslim boy, 6, in hate crime motivated by Israeli-Hamas war, police say
Recommendation
Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
Biden speaks with families of Americans missing in Israel, possibly among hostages held by Hamas
Huge turnout in Poland's decisive election, highest since 1919
5 Things podcast: Blinken says Arab leaders don't want spillover from Israel-Hamas war
The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
Louvre Museum in Paris was evacuated after a threat; France under high alert
Pregnant Jana Kramer Hospitalized During Babymoon With Bacterial Infection in Her Kidneys
Germany notifies the EU of border controls at the Polish, Czech and Swiss frontiers