Nasrin Sotoudeh wins the Alternative Nobel Prize
Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and human rights activist imprisoned in Iran, was announced on Thursday, October 1, as one of the winners of the prestigious "Righteous Life" Prize, known as the Alternative Nobel.
Ms. Sotoudeh is the first Iranian activist to win this award.
A statement issued by the Right Living Foundation on Thursday on the occasion stated that the 2020 winners have one thing in common: "their struggle for equality, democracy, justice, and freedom."
The other winners of the 2020 Alternative Nobel Prize are American civil rights lawyer Brian Stevenson, Nicaraguan environmental activist Lottie Cunningham Wren, and Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiatsky.
Ales Bialiatsky and the human rights NGO Viasna, whose name appears alongside Mr. Bialiatsky on the list of winners, are the first Belarusian winners of the prize.
The four Alternative Nobel Prize winners, selected by an international jury, will each receive a cash prize of one million Swedish kronor, about $110,000.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, who was sentenced to 33 years in prison and 148 lashes on political charges and had been on a hunger strike in prison since August 10 to protest the conditions of political prisoners, broke her hunger strike on October 25.
While he was on hunger strike, hundreds of activists, writers, and cultural figures from around the world signed statements calling for his release.
The Right Livelihood Award was established in 1980 "to honor and support courageous men and women who are working to solve global problems."
This award has become known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize" and has so far had 178 winners from 70 countries around the world.
Source: Radio Farda
