BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Imprisoned journalists Andrzej Poczobut of Belarus and Mzia Amaglobeli of Georgia have been awarded the European Union’s 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola said on Wednesday.
“Both are journalists currently in prison on trumped up charges simply for doing their work and for speaking out against injustice. Their courage has made them symbols of the struggle for freedom and democracy,” Metsola said.
The prize, named after the late Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, has been awarded annually since 1988 to individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Poczobut was arrested in March 2021 and sentenced to eight years in prison in Belarus in 2023 on charges of inciting ethnic hostility and undermining Belarusian security. Poczobut is of Polish origin and Poland described the verdict at the time as politically motivated.
Amaglobeli, founder of two independent media outlets, was sentenced to two years in prison in August for slapping a police chief during an anti-government protest in Georgia in January.
A video of the incident, published by Georgian media, shows her engaged in heated conversation with the police chief, Irakli Dgebuadze, before slapping him lightly across the face.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists called the sentence “outrageous” at the time. The judge had downgraded the charge from assaulting a police officer to using violence against a protector of public order, which carries a lighter sentence.
Past Sakharov winners include Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, South African President Nelson Mandela, Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai and the democratic opposition of Belarus.
(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; Editing by Alison Williams)
