Wednesday 20th October 2021
“Courage for Human Rights”
Navalny awarded the Sakharov Prize
In the summer of last year he survived a nerve poison attack and is currently imprisoned: the oppositionist Alexej Navalny. Now he is being honored for his efforts to stand up for human rights and freedom of choice in Russia, despite all resistance.
The EU Parliament has awarded this year’s Sakharov Prize for Democracy and Human Rights to the Russian opposition activist Alexej Navalny, who is currently imprisoned. “Navalny has shown great courage in his attempts to restore freedom of choice for the Russian people,” said the reasoning in the EU Parliament in Strasbourg. Navalny has fought for human rights and fundamental freedoms in his country for many years. He almost paid for this commitment with his life.
The 45-year-old Kremlin critic had survived an assassination attempt with neurotoxins last summer. Navalny blames the Kremlin for the attack. He was arrested in Russia earlier this year and sentenced to more than two years in a camp for alleged parole violations. The EU Parliament has now demanded his immediate release.
A group of Afghan women and the former Bolivian interim president Jeanine Áñez, who is also in custody, were also nominated for this year’s Sakharov Prize. The 50,000 euro award will be presented on December 15 in Strasbourg during the last plenary session of the year. The Sakharov Prize is named after the Soviet physicist, dissident and Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov. The first prize winner in 1988 was the South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela.