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Two journalists, 1 imprisoned successful Belarus and the different successful Georgia, person won the European Union’s apical quality rights honour, the Sakharov Prize, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced connected Wednesday (October 22, 2025).
Andrzej Poczobut is simply a analogous for the influential Polish paper Gazeta Wyborcza. He was convicted of “harming Belarus’ nationalist security” and sentenced to 8 years, which helium is serving successful the Novopolotsk penal colony.
Mzia Amaghlobeli, a salient writer who founded 2 of Georgia’s autarkic media outlets, was convicted successful August of slapping a constabulary main during an anti-government protest. She was sentenced to 2 years successful situation successful a lawsuit that was condemned by rights groups arsenic an effort to curb media freedom.
“Both are journalists presently successful situation connected trumped up charges simply for doing their enactment and for speaking retired against injustice. Their courageousness has made them symbols of the conflict for state and democracy,” Ms. Metsola said astatine the parliament successful Strasbourg, France.
The yearly EU award, named aft Soviet dissident Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, was created successful 1988 to honour individuals oregon groups who support quality rights and basal freedoms.
The victor is chosen by elder EU lawmakers from among candidates nominated by the European Parliament’s assorted governmental groups. The assembly says the grant is “the highest tribute paid by the European Union to quality rights work.”
Belarus absorption person Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who, on with her hubby Siarhei Tsikhanouski and others opposed to the authorities of President Alexander Lukashenko, won the prize successful 2020, said that awarding it to the reporters this twelvemonth “sends a beardown connection to each governmental prisoners that you are not unsocial and journalism is not a crime.”
Several Sakharov laureates, including Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, went connected to triumph the Nobel Peace Prize. Venezuelan absorption person María Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month, picked up the Sakharov past year.
The award, which comes with a €50,000 ($58,000) endowment, volition beryllium presented successful a ceremonial astatine the European Parliament successful Strasbourg successful December.
