3/11/2006
European Parliament Awards Sakharov Prize Awarded to Belarus Opposition Leader

The Conference of Presidents - the political group leaders of the European Parliament - have decided to award the prestigious Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought to the leader of the opposition in Belarus. Alexander Milinkevich stood in his country's presidential elections last March, the results of which were condemned by the EU and the US.

At an opposition rally protesting against the results, Milinkevich was arrested and held for 15 days before being released.  In February this year, before the elections, he visited the European Parliament and asked MEPs for their support, but a delegation of MEPs wishing to monitor the elections were refused entry by the Belarus authorities.
 
Mr Milinkevich is 59 years old and studied physics and mathematics in France, Germany and the US. He was deputy mayor of his home town, Hrodna, in the early nineties.
 
Every year, the European Parliament awards the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to exceptional individuals or organisations fighting against oppression, intolerance and injustice. Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan and the UN are among former winners. The award is a visible means for Parliament to honour and support those who have put themselves at risk in the cause of liberty. This focus looks at the 2005 winners and profiles those who have been nominated for 2006.

The prize is named after Andrei Sakharov (1921-1989), one of the leading scientists who developed the hydrogen bomb for the Soviet Union, and who later became an outspoken critic of the nuclear arms race. In 1970 he founded a committee on human rights. His activities did not go unnoticed, in the Soviet Union he was jailed, while in the West he received the Nobel Peace prize in 1975.

The Prize will be awarded to Mr Milinkevich during a formal plenary session of Parliament on 13 December. The prize comes with a certificate and a cheque for €50,000.