Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian film director, convicted to 20 years in prison for “plotting terrorist acts” against the Russian “de facto” rule in Crimea, is this year’s winner of the European Parliament Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

The decision was announced on Thursday. The prize, consisting of a certificate and €50,000 will be awarded in a ceremony in the Parliament in Strasbourg on December 12.

Sentsov was chosen from a shortlist of three by the Parliament’s political group leaders. The other two candidates were NGOs working to save migrants in the Mediterranean and Nasser Zefzafi, the leader of a mass protest movement in Morocco
 
Announcing this year’s laureate, Parliament President AntonioTajani said: “Through his courage and determination, by putting his life in danger, the film maker Oleg Sentsov has become a symbol of the struggle for the release of political prisoners held in Russia and around the world.

“By awarding him the Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament is expressing its solidarity with him and his cause. We ask that he be released immediately. His struggle reminds us that it is our duty to defend human rights everywhere in the world and in all circumstances.”
This year’s finalists for Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought were chosen by the foreign affairs and development committees on October 9.

The finalists for this year’s Sakharov Prize are:

Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian film director, convicted to 20 years in prison for “plotting terrorist acts” against the Russian “de facto” rule in Crimea. He was on hunger strike from mid-May until October 6, when he ended it because of the threat of being force fed.

NGOs protecting human rights and saving migrant lives across the Mediterranean Sea. Since 2015, NGOs from across the EU have launched search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean to try and save the lives of refugees struggling to reach EU shores.

Nasser Zefzafi, the leader of Hirak, a mass protest movement in the Rif region in Morocco, fighting corruption, oppression and abuse of power. He was arrested in May 2017 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for “conspiracy against the security of the state”.

Background

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named in honour of the Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, is awarded each year by the European Parliament. It was set up in 1988 to honour individuals and organisations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. 2018 marks 30 years since the Sakharov Prize was first conferred.

Last year the prize was given to the democratic opposition in Venezuela.