European Parliament: The Islamic Republic Should Allow Mahsa Amini's Family to Travel to Receive the 'Sakharov Prize'

On Monday, December 20, representatives of the European Parliament called on the Islamic Republic of Iran to allow Mahsa Amini's family to travel to France to receive the European Union's top human rights award. According to these lawmakers, Iranian authorities confiscated the passports of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini's mother, father, and brother, preventing them from boarding a flight to Paris. In a letter signed by 116 members of the European Parliament, the purpose of this restriction was stated as 'silencing the voice of Zhina Mahsa Amini's family' and 'preventing them from commenting on the brutal repression of women's rights, human rights, and fundamental freedoms in Iran by the Islamic Republic.' These lawmakers emphasized that they would not tolerate this action by the Islamic Republic, stating: 'The truth must not be silenced, and the face of this extraordinary freedom movement must be shown to Europe and the world.' The European Parliament representatives requested that the Iranian regime reverse this decision and allow Mahsa Amini's mother, father, and brother to travel on Tuesday, December 23, to receive the Sakharov Prize in Strasbourg. Previously, a relative of Mahsa Amini's family had told Voice of America on Saturday, December 18, that the prevention of this family's travel to Strasbourg was done 'at the request of the Ministry of Intelligence' of the Islamic Republic. Amjad Amini, Mojgan Eftekhari, Mahsa Amini's parents, and Ashkan Amini, Mahsa Amini's brother, were set to travel to France on the evening of Friday, December 17, to attend the Sakharov Prize ceremony awarded to Mahsa Amini, but security agents of the Islamic Republic prevented their travel at Tehran's international airport and confiscated their passports. One relative of Mahsa Amini's family, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that 'despite the fact that the invitation for Zhina's family to travel to Europe had previously been communicated to the governorate and the provincial administration of Kurdistan and other relevant agencies, no one announced that they were banned from leaving and had no right to travel outside of Iran.' They added that 'after Mahsa Amini's father, mother, and brother went to Tehran's international airport, received their boarding passes and checked in their luggage, they were told at the passport police section that they were banned from leaving, and their passports were confiscated, preventing their departure.' According to this source, 'the officials expressed ignorance about the reason for the family's travel ban' and told them to visit the Tehran Passport Office the following morning to retrieve their original passports. Based on this report, the Passport Office also claimed ignorance of the matter and told Mahsa Amini's family members to go to the building of the Attorney General of Tehran Province. This source added that Amjad Amini, along with his lawyer, went to the Attorney General's office, where the head of the office of the Deputy Attorney General of Tehran told them that 'your family has been banned from leaving until the end of this year at the request of the agent (Ministry of Intelligence), and if this travel ban is not extended after this time, the passports will be returned.' The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, known as the Sakharov Prize, is awarded annually to individuals or groups who have dedicated their lives to defending human rights and freedom of thought. This year, the European Union dedicated the prize to Mahsa Amini and the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' movement. The killing of Mahsa Amini in September 2022 while in the custody of the morality police led to widespread protests in Iran and the global 'Woman, Life, Freedom' movement; a movement calling for the end of the Islamic Republic's rule and the imposition of hijab on women, which faced severe repression from government forces. Since then, death sentences and prison sentences have been issued for a number of detained protesters.