Three finalists announced for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought

Brussels – The list of the three finalists for the Sakharov Prize was published. The short list vying for the European Union’s top human rights award comprises journalists and humanitarian workers. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, October 22,  during the plenary assembly in Strasbourg. The award ceremony will be on December 16, also in the hemicycle of the French city.

According to the regulations, the three finalists were chosen by the Committees on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and Development (DEVE), together with the Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI), from a list of candidates submitted in October by the political groups.

The first nomination is formed by a pair of journalists, both in prison for reporting on human rights violations in their home countries: Belarus’s Andrzej Poczobut and Georgia’s Mzia Amaglobelli.

Poczobut, in prison since 2021, was sentenced to eight years for denouncing the conditions of the Polish minority in Belarus and the illiberal distortions of the administration of President Aleksandr Lukašenko.  The European People’s Party (EPP) and Conservative Party (ECR) groups supported his candidature.

Mzia Amoglobeli, a Georgian, has been in prison since January 2025, on a specious charge of insulting a public official. She founded two independent newspapers, Batumelebi and Netgazeti, which are often critical of the public administration of the Georgian Dream party. The Popular Rasa Juknevičienė (EPP, Lithuania) and 60 other MEPs proposed her candidature.

The proposal of the parliamentary group Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is instead related to the conflict in Gaza. It includes the Palestinian Press Association, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Gaza is considered the most fatal region in the world for journalists, with at least 274 journalists killed. The MEPs of The Left also support the nomination, as confirmed in a joint note by the two 5 Star Movement MEPs, Danilo Della Valle and Carolina Morace: “We appeal to all political groups to send a message of peace and hope, Palestinian journalists deserve the Prize.”

The last finalist is an expression of the will of the reformist group, Renew Europe. The bid proposes to award the prize to Serbian students who have been protesting against corruption in the country. A movement that evolved from a youth movement into a broad representation of civil society.

The winner will get a cheque for 50,000 euros. The Conference of Presidents, composed of the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the leaders of the various political groups, will choose the winner in the coming days. Previous winners include illustrious personalities such as Nelson Mandela, the President of South Africa, the Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, and the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado.