{"id":468983,"date":"2026-10-22T16:31:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T14:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/10\/22\/alla-corte-penale-internazionale-il-premio-sakharov-per-la-liberta-di-pensiero\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T17:18:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T15:18:29","slug":"the-sakharov-prize-for-freedom-of-thought-awarded-to-the-international-criminal-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/the-sakharov-prize-for-freedom-of-thought-awarded-to-the-international-criminal-court\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought awarded to the International Criminal Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 Recognise the role of those who, despite threats from certain political leaders, continue to defend international justice. Today (22 October), during the plenary session in Strasbourg, the European Parliament awarded the 2026 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its officials<\/strong>. In announcing the winner<\/a>, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola<\/strong>, stated that \u201cthe EU is founded on respect for international law\u201d and that, by awarding this prize to the ICC, \u201cthe European Parliament recognises the work of those who bring justice to victims, including through investigations, prosecutions, and trials.\u201d <\/p>\n

Established in 1998 under the Rome Statute<\/a>, the ICC is the world\u2019s first permanent international criminal court. It investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals accused of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression. <\/p>\n

In a press release, the European Parliament emphasises that the award highlights the work of the Court<\/strong>, \u201cwhich includes<\/strong> criminal investigations, prosecutions, trials, and the issuing or authorising of arrest warrants in cases concerning, amongst others, Afghanistan, Russia, Israel, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Mali, Libya, and the Central African Republic.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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This victory comes at a historic moment when the Court continues to face numerous threats<\/a> from the Trump Administration<\/strong>, culminating in sanctions against its officials. The hostility stems from the arrest warrant issued on 21 November 2024 against the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong>, a partner of the United States. The European Union has takes a stand<\/a> in defence of the Court, assuring that it will take all necessary measures to ensure its continued operation. The Sakharov Prize is an award presented to individuals, groups, and organisations in recognition of their efforts in support of human rights. The <\/span>political groups in the European Parliament presented <\/a>the<\/span> nominees on 1 October during a joint meeting. In addition to the ICC, proposed by the Socialists, the nominees also included the Tanzanian activist, Tundu Lussu<\/strong>, nominated by the European People\u2019s Party and the Conservatives and Reformists, and the Iranian twins, Taraneh and Romina Rahimi<\/strong>, who were arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. During her speech in the Chamber, Metsola mentioned<\/a> them, recalling that Lussu \u201cis currently in prison, having fought for free and fair elections in Tanzania,\u201d whereas \u201cTaraneh and Romina should have their whole lives ahead of them, yet one of them faces the death penalty and the other decades in prison for protesting.\u201d Now, they are \u201call part of our \u2018Sakharov family<\/strong>\u2019,\u201d she emphasised. The award ceremony is scheduled to take place during the December plenary session, when the European Parliament will award<\/a> the winner a sum of \u20ac50,000.
Commenting on the victory, the Democratic Party MEP (S&D) Marco Tarquinio<\/strong>, stated that his \u201cS&D group had firmly believed in this, because standing alongside the ICC means standing on the side of international law and drawing a red line: no one, not even the most powerful and overbearing, is above the law.<\/strong>\u201d The co-chair of the Greens, Terry Reintke<\/strong>, emphasised that for \u201ca European Union that stands up to Donald Trump, autocrats, and dictators around the world,\u201d it is \u201cessential to defend international law, and the ICC is one of the key institutions in this regard.\u201d For the co-chair of The Left, Manon Aubry<\/strong>, this is \u201cexcellent news.\u201d  Her group, she explained, had \u201csupported the nomination for its work against impunity.\u201d And \u201cin the face of the sanctions imposed on it, our support for the ICC must be unwavering.\u201d The President of Renew, Val\u00e9rie Hayer<\/strong>, also commented on the award, stating that, while on the one hand, \u201cthe far right\u2019s complacent attitude towards Trump and Putin, who undermine international law, speaks volumes,\u201d on the other hand, \u201ctoday\u2019s vote reaffirms Europe\u2019s commitment to its founding values: justice, human rights, and the rule of law.\u201d The President of the European Council, Ant\u00f3nio Costa<\/strong>, also celebrated the award, noting<\/a> that the award \u201csends a powerful message to the world: Europe stands firmly in support of international law, the fight against impunity and accountability for the most serious international crimes.\u201d 
The President of the ICC, Tomoko Akane<\/strong>, expressed her gratitude<\/a> to the European Parliament, explaining that the award reaffirms \u201cthe importance of independent judicial institutions and of those who work to uphold international law,\u201d emphasising \u201cthe importance of ongoing international cooperation and support, so that the Court can fulfil its mandate independently and impartially, in the service of justice and the victims of the most serious crimes.\u201d In \u201ca world marked by rising conflicts, there can be no peace without justice, nor security without law,<\/strong>\u201d she concluded. 
The prize is named after Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov, a Russian nuclear disarmament and human rights activist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975<\/strong>. Last year, the prize was awarded to the journalist and activist for the Polish minority in Belarus, Andrzej Poczobut<\/strong>, a well-known critic of Aleksandr Luka\u0161\u0117nka\u2019s regime, and the Georgian journalist and director of independent media outlets Batumelebi<\/em> and Netgazeti<\/em>, Mzia Amaglobeli.<\/strong><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The victory comes following repeated threats from the Trump administration and the sanctions imposed on its officials. The awards ceremony is scheduled for December<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7908,"featured_media":468998,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[29788],"tags":[27427,25755,26868,34774,28877,27769,34714,26783,25759,28379,26326,26540],"class_list":["post-468983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diritti-en","tag-party-democratic-en","tag-news-parliament-en","tag-human-rights-en","tag-i-verdi","tag-court-penal-international-en","tag-manon-aubry-en","tag-plenaria-a-strasburgo","tag-renew-en","tag-roberta-metsolaat","tag-la-sinistra-en","tag-states-united-en","tag-valerie-hayer-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468983"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":468984,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468983\/revisions\/468984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}