Iranian prize winners put their necks on the line

The winners of this year's EU Sakharov prize for free speech have risked their safety by speaking out to MEPs on Wednesday (12 December).

The statements - by imprisoned Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, and by Iranian film maker Jafar Panahi, who is under a six-year suspended sentence - were read out on their behalf in Strasbourg because Iran declined to let them collect the award in person.

Sotoudeh's letter, read by exiled Iranian lawyer and Nobel laureate, Shirin Eb...