NEWS CENTER_Lawyer and human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh is considered one of the most important global figures in defending citizens’ freedoms and women’s rights, as she has faced, throughout her career extending for more than two decades, repeated judicial prosecutions and arrests ast he price of her continuous struggle for justice and the rule of law.

Lawyer and human rights acitivst Nasrin Sotoudeh received the “Thulani Maseko Justice Award” for 2026 in its fourth edition, which is granted by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) in partnership with the Thulani Maseko Foundation.

This international award is dedicated to honoring lawyers defending justice, independent legal representation, and citizens' fundamental rights under the yoke of authoritarian regimes, volunteering in the face of the harshest forms of repression and arrest.

The award, established in 2023, immortalizes the legacy of the late human rights lawyer "Thulani Maseko," who was assassinated by gunfire in his home in 2023 because of his struggle for democracy and the rule of law. The award ceremony is scheduled to be held today, Thursday, 15 October, in The Hague, Netherlands.

The Foundation had announced Nasrin Sotoudeh's win on 7 October, based on her career extending for more than two decades in pivotal human rights fields, including: defending freedoms and minorities, representing political prisoners, civil activists, journalists, and ethnic and religious minorities, women's rights and leading a legal and civil movement to oppose laws imposing compulsory hijab, and supporting women's fundamental rights, in addition to protecting minors and opposing the death penalty against children and youth below the legal age.

This struggle cost her repeated judicial prosecutions and arrests by the Iranian authorities, the most prominent of which was her sentencing in 2019 to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes, in addition to her re-arrest in April 2026, before her release on financial bail for medical reasons in May of the same year.

In a context related to her international honoring, Nasrin Sotoudeh also won the Scott Crosby Human Rights Prize for 2026, granted by the European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA). Her daughter, "Nima Khandan," received the prize on her behalf on 3 October, during the Association's autumn conference in the Albanian capital, Tirana, due to her mother's inability to travel. This prize is an independent honor celebrating commitment to the rule of law and the independence of the legal profession.