Iranian Dissidents Win European Human Rights Prize

Jailed human rights lawyer and banned filmmaker honored

A pair of Iranian dissidents — a jailed human rights lawyer and a banned filmmaker—were named winners Friday of the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov Prize.

The award went jointly to Nasrin Sotoudeh, an attorney who has represented political activists and others in Iran, and to Jafar Panahi, an internationally acclaimed  director now banned from  movie-making.

"The award … is a message of solidarity and recognition to a woman and a man who have not been bowed by fear and intimidation and who have decided to put the fate of their country before their own," European Parliament President Martin Schulz said in a statement.