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The European Parliament and 2017 Sakharov Prize laureate Lorent Saleh marked the summer season in Galicia/Northern Spain with a series of conferences and artistic performances mobilising local communities for the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide.

Building on the traumatic experience of Lorent Saleh as a political prisoner in Venezuela, the "Price of Freedom" conferences brought together local citizens, visiting tourists, municipal councillors and MEPs, to reflect about the importance of supporting human rights activists who endure severe forms of repression and torture because of their engagement for our freedoms.

Lorent Saleh promoted the European Parliament Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought as a significant and symbolic act of solidarity and awareness raising, which in his case was instrumental to breaking isolation, confinement, and eventually releasing him from jail.

Recitals of "Underground Poetry", written by Lorent Saleh while imprisoned in Venezuela, accompanied by classical music added an artistic touch to the series of events. Local governments run by different political parties in the hosting municipalities of Foz, Ribadeo, and Remourelle lent their active support. Visitors gave an enthusiastic feedback of this unconventional way of addressing human rights issues - a cultural highlight on the agenda of the Galician summer season this year.

Watch the events here.

As part of its commitment to freedom, democracy and human rights, the European Parliament will award the Sakharov Prize of 2022 on Wednesday, the 14th of December. However, preceding the ceremony, there are a number of steps taken in selecting each year's Laureate.

The first step is for the Members of the European Parliament to nominate the candidates until the 15th of September. Each nominee must have the support of at least 40 members, or of one political group. The nominations are then presented in a joint meeting to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Development and the Subcommittee on Human Rights that takes place on the 26th of September.

On the 13th of October, a shortlist of three candidates is established in a meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Development. The Conference of Presidents, consisting of chairs of all Parliament's political groups, then decides on the Sakharov Prize Laureate during a meeting on the 20th of October. The award ceremony, attended by both the winner and the finalists, takes place in Strasbourg on the 14th of December.