Alexei Navalny receives EU’s Sakharov Prize

By Agnes Szucs​​​​​​​

BRUSSELS (AA) - The European Parliament decided Wednesday to give the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

“In awarding the Sakharov Prize to Alexei Navalny, we recognize his immense personal bravery and reiterate the European Parliament’s unwavering support for his immediate release,” said President David Sassoli.

“He has campaigned consistently against the corruption of Vladimir Putin’s regime,” he said. “Navalny has helped expose abuses and mobilize the support of millions of people across Russia” with his social media campaigns.

The Sakharov Prize, named after Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, has been awarded to human rights defenders annually since 1988.

The ceremony will be Dec. 15 in Strasbourg, France but it is unlikely that Navalny will not attend because he is currently serving a 3.5-year prison sentence.

A Moscow court sentenced Navalny in February for violating parole.

He was arrested in Moscow upon his return in January from Germany where he had received treatment after being poisoned by the military-grade chemical agent, Novichok.