Belarusian political prisoners on the short list of Sakharov prize
Photo collage by RFE/RL
30 September
saw the announcement of the short list
of candidates for Andrey Sakharov
Prize "For the freedom of thought". Among the contenders
for the award the Foreign Affairs Committee of European Parliament
called Belarusian political prisoners Ales Bialiatski, Eduard Lobau
and Mikalai Statkevich,
as well as the US national Edward
Snovden and the Pakistani human rights activist, schoolgirl Malala
Yusufzai.
The
Belarusian oppositionists were nominated to
this prize by the MEPs
Marek Migalski, Jacek Protasiewicz and Philip Kaczmarek.
The
final winner will be announced on 10 October by
the heads of all seven parliamentary groups of the European
Parliament. The grand award ceremony will be held in Strasbourg on 20
October.
The Sakharov Prize, established in 1998, has a cash
value of 50 million euros and is the main award of the European Union
in the field of human rights.
Previously, Sakharov
prize was received by the leader of the
movement "For Freedom" Aliaksandr
Milinkevich and the Belarusian Association of Journalists.
Ales
Bialiatski was also awarded Sakharov Peace
Prize by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee in 2006.
