european parliament" "
The Sakharov 2004 Prize will be awarded during the plenary session of the European Parliament in December: EP President Josep Borrell will hand it over to the representatives of the Association of journalists in Belarus who “are working for the independence of the media”. The award, decided by the leaders of the political groups represented in Strasbourg, is annually given to individuals or associations that act “for the defence of human rights and fundamental liberties, in particular for the right to freedom of opinion, for the protection of minorities, for international law and the defence of democracy”. The prize has been awarded since 1988: in its first year it went to Nelson Mandela and in 2003 was awarded in commemoration of the United National personnel who have died in the exercise of their duties, for peace and for the safeguard of the freedom of peoples. The association of journalists in Belarus explains a press release put out by the EP “monitors violations of freedom of expression and publishes its own investigations on its own website. It also provides legal assistance to journalists and tries to exert pressure on the country’s authorities with regard to any measures that may hamper press freedom”. The EP chose between three candidates: the second was Ingrid Betancourt, who campaigns for human rights in Colombia; the third recommendation was a twosome: the Chechen Natalya Estemirova and the Russian Sergey Kovalev, who both work for human rights in their respective countries. The prize is of 50,000 euros.
