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dpa
Brussels
The European Parliament announced the shortlist for its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on Thursday, an annual award used to highlight the work of political dissidents worldwide.
EU lawmakers voted to select a group of socially engaged Afghan women, Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and former Bolivian interim President Jeanine Anez as the finalists, a press release from the legislature stated.
The winner is to be announced on December 15. Last year, it was awarded to Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
The 11 Afghans were nominated for their “brave fight for equality and human rights,” the parliament said. They include Shaharzad Akbar - chair of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission - and Anisa Shaheed, a journalist from local broadcaster TOLOnews.
Anti-corruption campaigner Navalny is one of the most prominent opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He narrowly survived an attempted poisoning last year, and is now in jail.
Anez has been imprisoned since March this year, accused of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy. The EU parliament press release described her as a “symbol of repression against dissidents and deprivation of due process and rule of law in Latin America.” She took on the interim role in November 2019 after former president Evo Morales fled the country amid allegations of attempted election fixing. Much of her time in office until November 2020 was spent trying to press charges against people affiliated with Morales.
The 50,000-euro (58,000-dollar) prize - named after Soviet-era Russian physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov - was established in 1988.
Brussels
The European Parliament announced the shortlist for its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on Thursday, an annual award used to highlight the work of political dissidents worldwide.
EU lawmakers voted to select a group of socially engaged Afghan women, Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and former Bolivian interim President Jeanine Anez as the finalists, a press release from the legislature stated.
The winner is to be announced on December 15. Last year, it was awarded to Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
The 11 Afghans were nominated for their “brave fight for equality and human rights,” the parliament said. They include Shaharzad Akbar - chair of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission - and Anisa Shaheed, a journalist from local broadcaster TOLOnews.
Anti-corruption campaigner Navalny is one of the most prominent opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He narrowly survived an attempted poisoning last year, and is now in jail.
Anez has been imprisoned since March this year, accused of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy. The EU parliament press release described her as a “symbol of repression against dissidents and deprivation of due process and rule of law in Latin America.” She took on the interim role in November 2019 after former president Evo Morales fled the country amid allegations of attempted election fixing. Much of her time in office until November 2020 was spent trying to press charges against people affiliated with Morales.
The 50,000-euro (58,000-dollar) prize - named after Soviet-era Russian physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov - was established in 1988.
