He was in France to receive, on behalf of this young woman killed for failing to wear the veil, the 2023 Sakharov Prize. Back in his country, he risks prison for having spoken about her to the media.
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Saleh Nikbakht is 73 years old and he is the lawyer for the family of Mahsa Amini, this 22-year-old young woman killed for failing to wear the veil on September 16, 2022, in Tehran. His death led to riots across the country chanting “Woman, Life, Freedom”, “Woman, Life, Liberty”. It is also in the name of “Woman, Life, Liberty” that Mahsa Amini received the Sakharov Prize, awarded every year by the European Parliament. It was therefore Saleh Nikbakht, his lawyer, who was present in Strasbourg on December 12 to receive the distinction awarded posthumously.
Mahsa Amini’s family had planned to attend the award ceremony, but was banned at the last minute from leaving Iranian territory. As a result, it was her lawyer who spoke in place of Mahsa’s family by reading, in front of the world, the message from the young girl’s mother who apologized for not being able to be present.
The Mullahs’ regime sentenced Saleh Nikbakht on October 17 to one year in prison for “propaganda” against the state, after speaking to the media about the Mahsa Amini affair. The lawyer knew, when he spoke on behalf of Mahsa Amini’s family, that once he returned to Iran he simply risked going to prison. “As soon as I return to Iran, I could be arrested and imprisoned,” he explained during his visit to France.
Heard by the Iranian police upon his return
The newspaper The world even specifies that items such as his phone, his computer, his passport were seized at the airport as soon as he got off the plane. Since then, he has been awaiting a summons for a stint in the famous Evin prison, in the north of Tehran. It is through this prison that most of the country’s political prisoners pass.
Prisoners that Mahsa’s lawyer has courageously defended for many years. He says it himself, he defended journalists, activists, writers, trade unionists… Even the family of young Mahsa. He is also from the same region as her. It is thanks to him and his perseverance that the world was able to know young Mahsa. And there is no shortage of courage.