Imprisoned journalists in Belarus and Georgia win top EU human rights award

The European Parliament on Wednesday awarded the Sakharov Prize to jailed journalists Andrzej Poczobut and Mzia Amaglobeli.

“Both are journalists currently in prison on trumped-up charges simply for doing their work and for speaking out against injustice,” Parliament President Roberta Metsola said as she announced the winners of the top EU human rights award. “Their courage has made them symbols of the struggle for freedom and democracy.”

Poczobut, a journalist and activist from the Polish minority in Belarus, is an outspoken critic of President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime. He has been arrested multiple times and, in 2021, was sentenced to eight years in a penal colony. His health has since deteriorated, the Parliament said.

Amaglobeli, a Georgian journalist and director of two media outlets, was arrested in January during anti-government protests. She was sentenced to two years in prison and is the first female political prisoner in Georgia.

Metsola also honored the other finalists, namely journalists and aid workers in Palestine, and student activists in Serbia.

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is named in honor of Andrei Sakharov, the Soviet physicist and political dissident. Shortlisted candidates are traditionally invited to the Parliament’s award ceremony, which takes place during the December plenary session in Strasbourg.