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Ales Bialiatski free but more human rights defenders must be released in Belarus

December 16, 2025
Belarus: All arbitrarily detained human rights defenders must be released - Civic Space

On 13 December, Belarus dictator Aliaksandr Lukashenko released over 100 political prisoners following an agreement with the United States to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash. Among the released are prominent human rights defenders and Viasna members Ales Bialiatski [Nobel Peace prize and 10 others: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/72682FFF-628F-4A5D-B6B3-52A776FF0E47] and Uladzimir Labkovich, as well as key opposition figures, such as Maryia Kalesnikava [see https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/beff3c8d-0e20-4e88-9efb-cdfcb4c26f40], Viktar Babaryka and lawyer Maksim Znak [https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/cbaf0097-1062-4a82-98ea-f5221f53c3fd]. This positive development, however, constitutes a necessary but insufficient step, as all arbitrarily detained human rights defenders, including former FIDH Vice President and Viasna colleague Valiantsin Stefanovic, Viasna team member Marfa Rabkova [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2024/12/10/10-december-2024-human-rights-day/], and woman human rights defender Nasta Loika [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2025/08/12/harsh-detention-conditions-of-nasta-loika-in-belarus/]must be released now. 

The undersigned organisations recall that Ales Bialiatski, and Uladzimir Labkovich were arbitrarily detained on 14 July 2021, prosecuted, and sentenced to 10 and 7 years in prison respectively on 3 March 2023 in retaliation for their legitimate and peaceful human rights activities. Their imprisonment constituted a grave violation of Belarus’ international human rights obligations, including the rights to freedom of expression, association, and fair trial.

While their release brings long-overdue relief to them, their families, their colleagues and the human rights community around the world, we stress that this step remains insufficient as long as hundreds of human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, activists, and political opponents remain arbitrarily detained in Belarus on politically motivated charges solely for exercising their fundamental freedoms, and repressions against Belarusian dissidents continue unabated. In particular, Valiantsin Stefanovic, former Vice President of FIDH arrested along Ales Bialiatski and Uladzimir Labkovic in July 2021, women human rights defender and Viasna member Marfa Rabkova, detained since September 2020, and founder of Human Constanta woman human rights defender Nasta Loika, arbitrarily detained since September 2022, were not among the released political prisoners. Alongside them, numerous human rights journalists, lawyers, and trade union activists remain arbitrarily detained, including Andrzej Poczobut, Katsiaryna Andreyeva, Ihar Ilyash, Danil Palianski, Pavel Dabravolski, Andrei Aliaksandrau, and many others. 

The undersigned organisations call on the Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners and all those arbitrarily detained, to put an end to judicial harassment and reprisals against civil society, and to repeal repressive legislation used to criminalise peaceful dissent and freedom of expression. The authorities must also ensure full rehabilitation, including the quashing of convictions and restoration of civil and political rights, for all those unlawfully detained for years.

The undersigned organisations further urge the international community to continue to closely monitor the situation in Belarus and to take all available legal, political, and diplomatic measures to ensure accountability for the grave human rights violations and international crimes, including by referring the situation to the International Criminal Court. 

Signatories:

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT),  in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

Human Rights Center Viasna

Human Rights Center, Georgia

ILI Foundation, Kazakhstan

Civil Society Institute, Armeniaia

Public Association “Dignity”, Kazakhstan

Promo-LEX Association, Moldova

Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Norway

Östgruppen (Swedish Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights)

Austausch e.V., Germany

Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC) 

Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Hungary

Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan

aditus foundation, Malta

LIBERECO – Partnership for Human Rights, Germany/Switzerland

Redress

The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) 

ARTICLE 19

People In Need

aditus foundation

Front Line Defenders

Bir Duino-Kyrgyzstan

European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE)

International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)

Human Rights Centre ZMINA, Ukraine

Center for Civil Liberties, Ukraine

https://www.article19.org/resources/belarus-all-arbitrarily-detained-human-rights-defenders-must-be-released/

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/freed-nobel-laureate-bialiatski-sees-121508187.html

https://nashaniva.com/en/383735

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Breaking news: Women human rights defenders recognised with the 2025 Martin Ennals Award

November 10, 2025

For this 31st edition, ten of the world’s leading human rights NGOs composing the Jury of the Martin Ennals Award – Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, FIDH, HURIDOCS, Bread for the World, Human Rights First, World Organisation Against Torture, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), and Front Line Defenders – have selected, after much deliberation, three human rights defenders for their exceptional contribution to the human rights movement. [se also https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/043F9D13-640A-412C-90E8-99952CA56DCE]

The 2025 Laureate is Ana Paula Gomes de Oliveira (Brazil), who co-founded the collective ‘Mothers of Manguinhos’ to fight for justice after the killing of her son, a 19-year-old Black man, who was shot in the back by a military police officer in the favelas of Rio on his way back from his girlfriend’s house in May 2014. The collective serves as a front for resistance and advocacy, but also as a network of emotional support and solidarity between women who share stories of similar loss. These women, in their majority Black, many of whom have lost children and other family members to violent actions by law enforcement officials, came together to denounce violence in the favelas, especially police violence that disproportionately affects poor Black youth. ‘When we are born Black and raised in the favelas, we are targeted by a racist system that is also reinforced by public security policies based on death and imprisonment,’ says Ana Paula. According to the UN, killings by the police have more than doubled in the last ten years in Brazil, with more than 6000 killings every year over the past six years. Black people, overwhelmingly men, represent a shocking rate of 82,7% of the killings by police officers in 2023. ‘The racist violence in Brazilian streets merits the full attention of the federal government and the international community,’ says Hans Thoolen, Chair of the Martin Ennals Award Jury. The collective ‘Mothers of Manguinhos’ fights for truth, memory, justice, freedom and the human rights of Black, poor, and peripheral lives. The collective is a member of the UN Antiracism Coalition (UNARC) and during the 57th session of the Human Rights Council, Ana Paula delivered a powerful message at a side event organised by UNARC on the perspectives of the Afro-Brazilian community directly affected by police violence in Brazil.

The Jury also recognised two finalists:  Aloikin Praise Opoloje (Uganda) and Saadia Mosbah (Tunisia).

Aloikin Praise Opoloje is a 26-year-old Ugandan student who has become a leading voice against corruption, social injustice, and human rights abuses in Uganda. Inspired by the dire living and educational conditions in her home district of Palisa, she has mobilised thousands through social media and organised major peaceful protests, including the March to Parliament and the Nude Protest against government mismanagement, which prompted official accountability for the Kiteezi landfill tragedy. Despite repeated arrests in 2024 and ongoing legal charges, Aloikin went on to create the WeThePeople movement, which informs young Ugandans about their civic rights and non-violent resistance.

Saadia Mosbah is a leading Tunisian human rights activist and co-founder of Mnemty (‘My Dream’), the main organisation dedicated to fighting racism and racial discrimination in Tunisia. She has spearheaded initiatives through education, awareness raising and legislative advocacy, which have led to the 2016 national debate on systemic racism, the adoption of the Anti-Racism Law No. 50 (2018), and the declaration of 23 January as the National Day for the Abolition of Slavery for Tunisia (since 2019). Her work has also focused on combatting prejudice against migrant people and promoting migrant and refugee rights. Despite her legitimate activism, Saadia Mosbah and Mnemty have faced intense smear  campaigns. She was arrested on 6 May 2024 on false accusations of financial crimes and remains in pre-trial detention without a set trial date.

The UN High Commissioner for human rights will award the selected laureate during the ceremony to take place on 26 November 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland. [https://www.martinennalsaward.org/2025-edition/]

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/statement-report/martin-ennals-award-2025-laureate-and-finalists-announced

https://crm.ishr.ch/civicrm/mailing/view?reset=1&id=1761&cid=8618&cs=2024ebbc1d0d243bef9dca9f079add01_1762761923_168

https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/brazil-police-massacre-in-rio-de-janeiro-is-evidence-yet-again-of-systemic-and-racist-violence/

https://www.fidh.org/en/region/americas/brazil/brazil-police-repression-and-massacre-in-rio-de-janeiro

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Even dictators like human rights awards – the case of Belarus

November 7, 2025

On November 3rd, the Emil Chechko International Charitable Foundation presented the International Human Rights Award — For Peace and Human Rights — for the third time in Minsk. The laureates are people who actively defend human rights and are not afraid to speak the truth about facts hidden behind the facade of ‘European values’.

Who was Emil Czeczko? The foundation granting the award is named after Emil Czeczko, a Polish soldier who deserted the Polish Army in December 2021 while on duty at the Polish-Belarusian border.  After crossing into Belarus, he requested political asylum and gave interviews to Belarusian state media, accusing Polish authorities of crimes against illegal migrants—claims dismissed by Warsaw as propaganda.  Czeczko was later found dead in his apartment in Minsk in 2022, with the official cause of death reported as hanging. [https://www.rferl.org/a/poland-soldier-belarus-asylum-dead/31758266.html]

Among the 2025 laureates are German journalist and supporter of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Jürgen Elsässer, Polish political scientist Tomasz Jankowski, Russian State Duma deputy Mikhail Delyagin, member of the Human Rights Council under the Russian President Eva Merkacheva, member of the European Parliament Grzegorz Braun and others. The list includes eight laureates in total; however, Dmitry Belyakov, the Chairman of the Board of the Emil Chechko International Charitable Foundation, mentioned that the original plan was to present ten awards. Two recipients were unable to attend the ceremony and accept their deserved honours because of border closures. Notably, the names of the nominees were kept secret, even from the nominees themselves, until the last moment for security purposes.

An award recipient who experienced persecution was Jürgen Elsässer, the Editor-in-Chief of Compact, a German opposition magazine. He pursued legal action against the German government for promoting the importance of maintaining peace and aligning with Eastern countries instead of the aggressive West. Fortunately, common sense prevailed, and Elsässer’s editorial team won the lawsuit.

“I appreciate your President’s policies because Aleksandr Lukashenko consistently defends peace and supports friendly relations with Russia and China. I wish Germany would choose a similar approach as well, instead of aligning with the EU, where, as we can see, everyone seems to be ‘intoxicated’ by war,” Jürgen Elsässer admitted.

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has taken a swipe at a controversial far-right MEP after he was granted a “peace award” by a Belarusian foundation linked to the regime of Aleksander Lukashenko, the country’s president.

https://www.sb.by/en/emil-chechko-international-human-rights-award-presented-in-minsk.html

https://tvpworld.com/89858963/polands-sikorski-mocks-mep-braun-over-belarusian-peace-award

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Nominations for the 2026 Front Line Defenders Award now open

November 6, 2025
Home

The Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk [see also https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/2E90A0F4-6DFE-497B-8C08-56F4E831B47D] was established in 2005. You can now submit your nomination for the 2026 Front Line Defenders Award online. Simply answer the questions by clicking the link below and when you have answered all of the questions, input the four digit security code and click on the submit button.

The Front Line Defenders Award is intended for HRDs for whom visibility can contribute to their security and who have not already had a lot of international recognition for their human rights work.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS: 23rd January 2026

Selection Criteria:

  • the nature of human rights defender’s work
  • the impact of human rights defender’s work in advancing the rights of others
  • the level of risk or negative consequences associated with human rights defender’s work
  • the continued commitment to advancing human rights, despite high level risks
  • the potential impact of receiving the Award on the human rights defender and their work

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/secure/nomination.php?l=en

https://www2.fundsforngos.org/individuals/front-line-defenders-award-for-human-rights-defenders-at-risk-2026/

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Initiative enabling refugees to compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Games and Miguel Ángel Moratinos win 2025 North-South Prize

October 31, 2025
Council of Europe

On 29 October 2025the North-South Centre in Lisbon announced that the 2025 North-South Prize is awarded to Miguel Ángel Moratinos and the Olympic refugee sports initiative

© North-South Centre of the Council of Europe // North-South Prize of the Council of Europe

© North-South Centre of the Council of Europe // North-South Prize of the Council of Europe

The Council of Europe North-South Prize has been awarded to Miguel Ángel Moratinos, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of civilizations, and to an initiative that enables refugees to compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The award ceremony took place at the Portuguese Parliament in Lisbon.

In his speech at the ceremony, Secretary General Alain Berset said: “The Council of Europe is first and foremost a peace project. Peace built on justice and international cooperation – vital for the preservation of human society and civilisation. This is what the North-South Centre is all about. And that is why this prize matters. The recipients we honour today are for dialogue, human dignity, and for hope”.

Miguel Ángel Moratinos has been rewarded for his career in diplomacy and international relations, dedicated to advancing peace – notably in the Middle East, for which he was European Union Special Representative for seven years – and intercultural dialogue between different regions. He has also served, among other roles, as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain.

The initiative enabling refugees to compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Games – led by the Olympic Refuge Foundation, the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee – was honoured for their commitment to making the participation of refugee athletes in the Olympic and Paralympic Games possible. By competing on the world stage, these athletes – displaced by conflict, persecution or crises – inspire hope and exemplify the power of sport to unite people in the spirit of fair play, tolerance and cooperation.

The initiative was represented at the ceremony by Nawal El Moutawakel, Vice-President of the International Olympic Committee, Leila Marques, Vice-President of the International Paralympic Committee, and the athletes Cindy Ngamba and Zakia Khudadadi, who made history as the first members of the Refugee Olympic and Paralympic teams to win a medal.

For more on the North-South Prize and its laureates, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/8FA97F67-9D63-4D8D-B00D-B260262A61E2

https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/north-south-prize-awarded-to-miguel-%C3%A1ngel-moratinos-and-refugee-sports-initiative

https://www.olympics.com/en/olympic-refuge-foundation/news/refugee-teams-recognised-by-north-south-prize-of-council-of-europe

High Representative’s Remarks at the Award Ceremony of the 30th North-South Prize of the Council of Europe

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Save the date: 2025 Martin Ennals Award Ceremony on 26 November in Geneva

October 23, 2025


SAVE THE DATE for the 31st Martin Ennals Award Ceremony:
26 November 2025 at 18:30 CET.  (Doors open at 18:00 CET).

I will certainly be there as Chair of the Jury of he MEA but [SPOILERS ALERT] it will be the last time I attend in this function. After more than 10 years, it is time someone else takes over.
The Ceremony, as usual, is co-hosted by the City of Geneva, and will take place at the Salle communale de Plainpalais in Geneva. Happy to see that the participation of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is expected.

Please note that entry to the venue is on a first first-come, first-served basis. 

The event will also be livestreamed on the MEA’s media platforms.

19:30 Cocktail offered by the City of Geneva

REGISTER HERE

2025 Edition
2025 Edition

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Journalists from Belarus and Georgia winners of European Sakharov Prize 2025

October 23, 2025

Two journalists, one imprisoned in Belarus and the other in Georgia, have won the European Union’s top human rights honor, the Sakharov Prize, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced on Wednesday 22 October 2025.

Andrzej Poczobut is a correspondent for the influential Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. He was convicted of “harming Belarus’ national security” and sentenced to eight years, which he is serving in the Novopolotsk penal colony.

Mzia Amaghlobeli, a prominent journalist who founded two of Georgia’s independent media outlets, was in August convicted of slapping a police chief during an anti-government protest. She was sentenced to two years in prison in a case that was condemned by rights groups as an attempt to curb media freedom.

“Both are journalists currently in prison on trumped up charges simply for doing their work and for speaking out against injustice. Their courage has made them symbols of the struggle for freedom and democracy,” Metsola said at the parliament in Strasbourg, France.

For more on the annual EU award, named after Soviet dissident Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/BDE3E41A-8706-42F1-A6C5-ECBBC4CDB449

The winner is chosen by senior EU lawmakers from among candidates nominated by the European Parliament’s various political groups. [see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2025/10/02/2025-nominees-for-the-european-sakharov-prize/]

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/journalists-imprisoned-belarus-georgia-win-eus-top-human-126748980

https://spring96.org/en/news/118943

https://www.rferl.org/a/sakharov-prize-2025-andrzej-poczobut-mzia-amaglobeli-/33566711.html

https://euneighbourseast.eu/news/latest-news/2025-sakharov-prize-parliament-honours-andrzej-poczobut-and-mzia-amaglobeli/

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MEPs shortlist three finalists for the 2025 Sakharov Prize

October 20, 2025

Members of the Foreign Affairs and Development Committees of the European Parliament voted on Thursday for the three finalists for the 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought (in alphabetical order):

-Imprisoned journalists fighting for your freedom and ours, Andrzej Poczobut from Belarus and Mzia Amaglobeli from Georgia

    -Journalists and Humanitarian Aid Workers in Palestine and all conflict zones, represented by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, the Red Crescent, and UNRWA ;

    -Serbian students

    Find the biographies of the candidates and finalists by following this link.

    The Conference of Presidents, comprising European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and the leaders of the political groups, will choose the 2025 laureate from this  shortlist. Their decision will be announced in the Strasbourg Hemicycle during the plenary session on 22 October 2025.

    For more on the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought (and other awards with Sakharov in the name, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/BDE3E41A-8706-42F1-A6C5-ECBBC4CDB449.

    https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/de/press-room/20251008IPR30829/meps-shortlist-three-finalists-for-the-2025-sakharov-prize

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    Venezuelan María Corina Machado wins Nobel Peace Prize 2025

    October 10, 2025

    After persistent speculation about the possibility of the prize going to Donald Trump [see e.g.: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2025/07/24/nobel-peace-prize-choice-between-trump-and-albanese/], it was announced today 10 October that the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, winning more recognition as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”

    The former opposition presidential candidate was lauded for being a “key, unifying figure” in the once deeply divided opposition to President Nicolás Maduro’s government, said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee. “In the past year, Ms. Machado has been forced to live in hiding,” Watne Frydnes said. Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions. When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist.”

    Maria Corina Machado is well known in human rights circles having won previously 6 important human rights awards. See: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/b353c92c-72dd-418a-908c-9f240acab3be. But neither the Nobel Committee nor the mainstream media seem to be aware of this [as happened before e.g. in 2023″, see https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/10/06/jailed-iranian-human-rights-defender-narges-mohammadi-wins-nobel-peace-prize-2023/]

    The Nobel Prize Committee clarified that “Maria Corina Machado meets all three criteria stated in Alfred Nobel’s will for the selection of a Peace Prize laureate. She has brought her country’s opposition together. She has never wavered in resisting the militarisation of Venezuelan society. She has been steadfast in her support for a peaceful transition to democracy.

    Maria Corina Machado has shown that the tools of democracy are also the tools of peace. She embodies the hope of a different future, one where the fundamental rights of citizens are protected, and their voices are heard. In this future, people will finally be free to live in peace.”

    https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2025/press-release/

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/oct/10/nobel-peace-prize-2025-live-latest-news-updateshttps://www.bbc.com/news/live/c1l80g1qe4gt

    https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c1l80g1qe4gt

    Nobel Peace Prize awarded to María Corina Machado from Venezuela

    https://hrf.org/latest/hrf-celebrates-award-of-the-nobel-peace-prize-to-venezuelas-maria-corina-machado/

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    2025 nominees for the European Sakharov Prize

    October 2, 2025
    2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament

    Each year the European Parliament awards the Sakharov Prize to honour exceptional individuals and organisations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms, safeguarding the rights of minorities, and fighting for respect of international law, democracy and rule of law. Nominations are made by political groups or by at least 40 MEPs. This year’s nominations were presented during a joint meeting of the foreign affairs and development committees, and the human rights subcommittee on 23 September 2025:

    Andrzej Poczobut

    Andrzej Poczobut is nominated by the groups of the European People’s Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists. He is a journalist, essayist and blogger from the Polish minority in Belarus, known for his criticism of Alexander Lukashenko’s regime and has become a symbolic figure in the struggle for freedom and democracy in the country.

    Poczobut has been repeatedly arrested by the authorities. Detained in 2021, he was sentenced to eight years in a penal colony. He has at times been held in solitary confinement without adequate medical treatment. His current condition is unknown and his family is denied any visits. Parliament has called for his immediate and unconditional release.

    The Socialists and Democrats group has nominated journalists and humanitarian aid workers in conflict zones represented by the Palestinian Press Association, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Gaza is identified as the world’s deadliest region for journalism, with a high number of Palestinian journalists killed. Humanitarian workers have also endured significant losses during the conflict, with deadly attacks affecting organisations such as World Central Kitchen, the PRCS and UNRWA. These individuals, through their work and sacrifices, ensure international awareness of the critical human rights situation in Gaza.

    The Left group has also nominated journalists in Palestine, with a specific mention of Hamza and Wael Al-Dahdouh, Plestia Alaqad, Shireen Abu Akleh, Ain Media (in honour of Yasser Murtaja & Roshdi Sarraj), representing all the journalists active in Palestine.

    Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal is nominated by the Patriots for Europe group. A former senior official in Algeria’s Ministry of Industry, he began writing novels after retiring. He has received several literary awards and is known for his criticism of Islamism and the Algerian government.

    In November 2024, Sansal was arrested in Algeria for “undermining national unity” following an interview with French media. In March 2025, he was sentenced to five years in prison, despite health concerns and without his French lawyer present. The sentence was later upheld on appeal. The European Parliament and French National Assembly have both called for his immediate release.

    The Renew Europe group has nominated the Serbian students who initiated nationwide protests after the collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad, Serbia, on 1 November 2024. This tragedy, which killed 16 people, was linked to alleged systemic corruption and infrastructural neglect. It triggered silent nationwide protests demanding accountability. The movement has transcended ideological and political divisions and now includes academic staff and students, farmers, artists, journalists, taxi drivers, engineers, and others. It culminated on 15 March 2025, when over 350,000 people gathered in Belgrade for the largest demonstration in Serbia’s post-Yugoslav history.

    Budapest Pride

    Budapest Pride has been nominated by the Greens/European Free Alliance group as well as by Marc Angel (S&D, Luxembourg), Kim van Sparrentak (Greens/EFA, Netherlands) and 43 other MEPs. Taking place despite a government-announced ban, 2025 Budapest Pride drew the largest attendance in the event’s history and became the seventh-largest Pride march in Europe. Despite the risks of potential police intervention, fines, and imprisonment, the march emphasised freedom of assembly and expression. By combining grassroots LGBTQ activism with support from established NGOs amid increasing government restrictions, the event has played a role in advocating for democratic values and civil liberties in Hungary.

    Charlie Kirk, nominated by the Europe of Sovereign Nations group, was an American civic activist and public speaker, co-founder and CEO of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), founded in 2012 to engage students and young voters. Under his leadership, TPUSA played a significant role in youth political participation and debates on free speech on university campuses. On 10 September 2025, Charlie Kirk was shot dead during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University. The assassination has been widely condemned and highlights concerns over threats to freedom of expression.

    Mzia Amaglobeli and Georgia’s pro-democracy protest movement have been nominated by Rasa Juknevičienė (EPP, Lithuania) and 60 other MEPs. Mzia Amaglobeli, a Georgian journalist and director of online media outlets, was detained in 2025 for participating in an anti-government protest and imprisoned for two years on politically motivated charges. The first female political prisoner in Georgia since its independence and a fighter for freedom of expression, she has become the symbol of Georgia’s pro-democracy protest movement that opposes the Georgian Dream regime after the October 2024 elections.

    For more on the annual Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, see https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/BDE3E41A-8706-42F1-A6C5-ECBBC4CDB449

    Further Timeline:

    • 16 October: the foreign affairs and development committees vote to determine the three finalists;
    • 22 October: Political group leaders and Parliament President Roberta Metsola decide on the 2025 laureate;
    • 16 December: The Sakharov Prize award ceremony takes place in Strasbourg.

    https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20250922STO30493/sakharov-prize-2025-the-nominees

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