Warsaw- Former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa awarded three Iranian women Tuesday the prize that bears his name for their fight for human rights, freedom of speech and democracy, local media reported. "I hope this wasn't a mistake and this prize will encourage you towards further battle," Walesa said in Gdansk during a ceremony celebrating his 66th birthday.
"There is still much left to do in the region of the world where you are from. They didn't give us, Solidarity, much of a chance either."
Shadi Sadr along with sisters Ladan and Roya Boroumand received the Lech Walesa Prize named after the leader who helped topple communism in 1989 after years of leading strikes in the Gdansk shipyards.
The three women will share a 100,000-euro (146,000 dollars) cash award.
Sadr is a lawyer, journalist and an activist for women's rights in Muslim countries, and is involved in the End Stoning Forever campaign.
Ladan and Roya Boroumand founded the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation that works towards human rights and democracy in Iran.
Saudi Arabian King Abdullah was the first recipient of Walesa's prize in 2008 for his role in promoting inter-faith dialogue.
The prize honors people, institutions or movements working for understanding or solidarity between nations, freedom and promoting values that Solidarity represented.
The prize committee includes Walesa, along with former Czech President Vaclav Havel.
Walesa co-founded Poland's first independent labour union under communism and lead Solidarity in protests that challenged the country's regime. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 and was elected president in 1990.
