Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh is one of Iran’s best-known human rights activists. On September 28, she was awarded the Council of Europe’s Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize.
In 2026, Sotoudeh was one of three finalists for prize. The other nominees were the Iranian-American journalist and women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad and the Hungarian human rights lawyer Marta Pardavi.
The Council of Europe is honoring Sotoudeh’s longstanding commitment to human rights and her work, which she has carried out at considerable personal risk.
The council said Sotoudeh campaigned against compulsory hijab laws and the death penalty, “despite repeated arrests, lengthy imprisonment and great personal risk.”
Who is Nasrin Sotoudeh?
Human rights lawyer Sotoudeh is committed to women’s rights, the rights of political prisoners, and the abolition of the death penalty. She has represented numerous activists, journalists, members of religious minorities, and people sentenced to death.
“In moments like this, we remember past struggles, we recall our shared ideals and we think of the individuals across the globe who stand with us,” Sotoudeh in a video statement from Tehran.
As early as 2012, she was awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize, along with film director Jafar Panahi. At the time, she was in prison and was unable to accept the award in person.
In 2019, she had been sentenced to 33 years in prison and 148 lashes. One reason for the sentence was her work as a lawyer for women who had protested against Iran’s headscarf mandate.
Even while in prison, she continued her advocacy for human rights. In 2020, Sotoudeh went on a hunger strike at Evin Prison to protest the conditions of detention and the situation of political prisoners. That same year, she was among the recipients of the Alternative Nobel Prize (Right Livelihood Award) and learned of the award while in prison.
Voice for women’s rights in Iran
During Iran’s nationwide “Woman, Life, Freedom” protest movement in 2022, Sotoudeh once again became a leading voice for the rights of Iranian women.
Her decades-long commitment symbolizes the enduring resistance against state restrictions and repression. She has been arrested repeatedly and sentenced to long prison terms, including in April 2026. In May, she was released on bail.
The Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize recognizes “outstanding civil society action in defense of human rights” in Europe and elsewhere. The prize is worth €60,000 and is awarded by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in cooperation with the Charter 77 Foundation.
This article was translated from German
