Tuesday, 17 September 2013

2013 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought - seven nominations

The 2013 Sakharov Prize nominees, presented at a joint meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Development committees and the Human Rights Subcommittee on Monday, are: 



Malala Yousafzai (Pakistan), 
Edward Snowden (USA), 
Reeyot Alemu and Eskinder Nega (Ethiopia), 
Ales Bialatski, Eduard Lobau and Mykola Statkevich (Belarus), 
Mikhail Khodorkovsky (Russia), 
the "Standing Man" protesters (Turkey), and 
the CNN Freedom Project: Ending Modern - Day Slavery (USA).

Reeyot Alemu and Eskinder Nega - nominated by Ana Maria Gomes (S&D, PT) and 40 other MEPs

These Ethiopian journalists are serving prison terms on terrorism charges. Ms Alemu was sentenced in January 2012 after writing columns critical of the government, and Mr Nega was sentenced six months later, after criticizing the prosecution of journalists and dissidents in Ethiopia and writing about how an Arab Spring-like democracy movement might arise there.

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