Voices of freedom that light the way
The awarding of the annual Sakharov Prize is drawing near. The laureates will collect the Prize on Wednesday during the December Plenary session of the EP in Strasbourg. The whole ceremony, covered live on webstreaming, will represent the culmination of the EP´s annual effort to recognise achievements in the field of human rights, protection of minorities, defence of international cooperation or the development of democracy and the rule of law.
The award ceremony in the Parliament's hemicycle will start exactly at noon when Josep Borrell, the President of the European Parliament, will personally hand out the diplomas to the laureates. The winners and President Borrell will be available for questions from the media during a press conference following the awards.
Earlier in November, the Conference of Presidents (leaders of the Parliament's political groups) decided that all three contenders were worthy of the award. The Cuban "Ladies in White" hold peaceful demonstrations every Sunday against the detention of their husbands and sons who are imprisoned for political reasons. Laura Pollán, one of the "Ladies" said: "They are innocent, they only held different views from the government regime and this doesn't give anyone the right to condemn them to 20, 25, 28 years in jail."
Hauwa Ibrahim is a Nigerian lawyer defending women who face being stoned to death for adultery and young people who face amputation for theft under Islamic Sharia law. In her reaction to the decision of the Conference of the President she said she would like to "break this nexus of illiteracy" and give hope to the people she represents.
"Reporters without Borders" campaigns for press freedom throughout the world and defends journalists and media organisations against censorship and harassment. Upon hearing of the award, Robert Ménard, Secretary General of the organization said that "the Sakharov Prize is really important....it gives us weight with government officials."
The awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday 14 December, but the three prize winners will arrive in Strasbourg on Monday. They will have several meetings, including one on Monday evening with the Foreign Affairs Committee. They will also meet with several political groups and with Mr Borrell.
