The democratic opposition in Belarus, led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the highest form of recognition granted by the European Parliament to human rights defenders.
Tsikhanouskaya is a former English professor. She became the face of the anti-fraud protests of the last elections in Belarus in August. She currently lives as an exile in Lithuania.
When she intervened in September at the European Parliament, she denounced the repression happening under Alexander Lukashenko, who has governed the country for more than 25 years.
SVIATLANA TSIKHANOUSKAYA
Sakharov Prize 2020
“They raped, tortured; and for you to understand, this is happening in the middle of Europe in 2020.”
Among this year's three finalists for the award was the current archbishop of Mosul, who was nominated for taking action when the Islamic State invaded. He helped evacuate the people and saved more than 800 historical manuscripts from being destroyed by the fundamentalists.
Javier Romero
Translation: CT
