Following a joint vote by MEPs in the Foreign Affairs and Development committees of the European Parliament on Tuesday, the finalists for the 2019 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought are:
- Murdered Brazilian political activist and human rights defender Marielle Franco [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2019/03/13/marielle-franco-one-year-after-her-killing-in-rio/ ], Native Brazilian leader and environmentalist Chief Raoni and Brazilian environmentalist and human rights defender Claudelice Silva dos Santos
- The Restorers, a group of five students from Kenya – Stacy Owino, Cynthia Otieno, Purity Achieng, Mascrine Atieno and Ivy Akinyi – who have developed i-Cut, an app to help girls deal with female genital mutilation (FGM)
- Ilham Tohti, an Uyghur economist fighting for the rights of China’s Uyghur minority [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2019/10/01/ilham-tohti-and-balkan-youth-group-share-2019-vaclav-havel-human-rights-prize/]
The European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents (President and political groups’ leaders) will select the final laureate on Thursday 24 October. The prize itself will be awarded in a ceremony in Parliament’s hemicycle in Strasbourg on 18 December.
For more on the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought and two other awards in the name of Sakharove, see: http://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/sakharov-prize-for-freedom-of-thought
For last year’s award see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2018/10/27/ukrainian-filmmaker-sentsov-wins-eus-sakharov-prize-for-human-rights/
Several people who spoke to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity expressed surprise that Navalny had not been shortlisted.
https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-activist-navalny-not-on-sakharov-prize-shortlist/30206166.html
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 