Two Iranian dissidents - a lawyer and a film director - have been awarded the 2012 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, which awarded the prize to Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi, said it was "a message of solidarity and recognition to a woman and a man who have not been bowed by fear and intimidation."
Sotoudeh, a lawyer who represented imprisoned Iranian opposition activists following the disputed June 2009 presidential elections, is now in prison herself. Panahi's films are known for their humanist perspective on life in Iran, often focusing on the hardships of children, the poor and women. He won the Camera d'Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.
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