News Center- On October 12, MEPs on the Foreign Affairs and Development committees chose in a joint vote the finalists for the European Parliament’s 2023 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, during a joint meeting with Human Rights Subcommittee MEPs. Jina Mahsa Amini and the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi (Women, Life, Freedom)” movement in Iran have been selected as one of the three finalists.

The other finalists of the prize are: Vilma Núñez de Escorcia and Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez Lagos from Nicaragua, Women fighting for a free, safe and legal abortion: Justyna Wydrzyńska (Poland), Morena Herrera (El Salvador) and Colleen McNicholas (United States).

On October 19, the European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents will select the winning laureate. The prize will be given to the winning laureate at a ceremony in the European Parliament’s hemicycle in Strasbourg on December 13.

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought has been awarded each year by the European Parliament since 1988 to honor individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Jina Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman from Saqqez city of Rojhelat Kurdistan, was arrested and severely beaten  in custody by Iran’s so-called morality police for allegedly not wearing the hijab in accordance with government standards. On September 16, 2022, Jina Mahsa Amini died in a hospital in Tehran. Protests started in Iran and Rojhelat Kurdistan following her killing. The protests led by women chanting, “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” turned into an uprising against the Islamic Republic of Iran.