The European Parliament (EP) has included the Belarusian opposition in the list of finalists for the 2020 Sakharov Prize “For Freedom of Thought”. This was reported on the website of the legislative and representative body of the European Union.
According to the results of voting at a joint meeting of the EP's foreign affairs and development committees, the democratic opposition in Belarus, represented by the Coordination Council – “an initiative of brave women and figures in politics and civil society” – became one of the finalists of the award.
In addition, environmental activists from El Guapinol in Honduras and the Archbishop of Mosul in Iraq were shortlisted for the award. The winner of the award will be selected on October 22 by the decision of the leaders of the leading factions of the EP The prize will be presented at the seat of the European Parliament in Brussels on 16 December.
In 2018, the winner of the Sakharov Prize “For Freedom of Thought” for 2018 was Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov, who is serving a sentence in the Yamal colony. In 2019, he was released as part of a detainee exchange between Russia and Ukraine and returned to his homeland.
The prize, named after the Soviet physicist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, was established in 1988 and is awarded to individuals and organizations for achievements in the field of human rights protection.
