Belarus opposition awarded EU human rights prize

22 October 2020, 12:24

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
Europe Sakharov Prize. Picture: PA

The movement’s leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, was the main challenger to Alexander Lukashenko in a disputed election in August.

The European Union has awarded its top human rights prize to the Belarus opposition movement and its leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, for their challenge to President Alexander Lukashenko’s long, hard-line reign.

The 27-nation bloc agreed this month to impose sanctions against officials suspected of election misconduct and a brutal security crackdown on protesters in Belarus.

The EU has warned it is ready to sanction Mr Lukashenko himself if he fails to enter into talks with the opposition and order an end to the repression launched after a disputed election.

Belarus Lukashenko
Protests have rocked Belarus since Alexander Lukashenko’s re-election (Sergei Sheleg/BelTA/AP)

Mr Lukashenko won his sixth term in office in a presidential election widely seen as rigged.

Since the August 9 polls that handed Mr Lukashenko victory with 80% of the vote, mass protests have rocked the ex-Soviet nation sandwiched between Poland and Russia.

Ms Tsikhanouskaya, his main challenger, got 10% of the vote.

She and her supporters refused to recognise the results, saying the outcome of the vote was manipulated.

“It is an honour to announce that the women and men of the democratic opposition in Belarus are the 2020 Sakharov Prize laureates,” European Parliament president David Sassoli said.

“They have on their side something that brute force can never defeat: the truth.

“Do not give up on your fight. We are by your side.”

Belarus Protests
Protesters call for Mr Lukashenko’s resignation during a rally in Minsk, Belarus, on Monday (AP)

A 38-year-old former English teacher with no previous political experience, Ms Tsikhanouskaya joined the race after her husband who aspired to run for president was jailed. He has remained in prison.

She has rejected the official tally and refused to concede defeat but was forced to move to Lithuania under pressure from authorities.

Ms Tsikhanouskaya shares the prize with several leading members of the opposition’s Coordination Council, which was created after the election in a bid to facilitate talks on a transition of power.

They include Nobel Laureate Svetlana Alexievich, musician Maryia Kalesnikava and political activists Volha Kavalkova and Veranika Tsapkala and prominent opposition politician Mikola Statkevich, who was recently jailed.

The EU award, named after Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, was created in 1988 to honour individuals or groups who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Last year’s winner was economist Ilham Tohti for his work defending China’s Uighur minority.

Others on the shortlist for the award this year were activists defending the Guapinol river in Honduras and murdered environmental activist and indigenous leader Berta Caceres.

Najeeb Michaeel, the archbishop of Mosul, also made the cut for his role in the evacuation of Christians, Syriacs and Chaldeans to Iraqi Kurdistan and safeguarding historic manuscripts after the Islamic State arrived in Mosul in 2014.

Mr Sassoli paid tribute to Arnold Joaquín Morazan Erazo, a member of the environmental group opposing an iron oxide mine in Honduras who was killed this month.

“It is imperative that a credible, independent and immediate investigation is launched into this case and those responsible must be held to account,” he said.

The prize will be presented in a ceremony in Strasbourg, France, on December 16.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Virginia Giuffre

Woman driving Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre during crash that left her with 'four days to live' breaks silence

Exclusive
'Donald Trump has made Putin comfortable,' Mikhail Khodorkovsky has warned

'Trump has made Putin comfortable' despite massive Ukraine war losses, exiled former oligarch tells LBC

The bodies of Andrew Searle and his wife Dawn were discovered by a neighbour.

British couple found dead in south of France home being ‘treated as murder-suicide’

The vehicle was later extinguished after the driver, covered in flames, emerged from the vehicle.

Amsterdam Dam Square car explosion sees driver engulfed in flames - just days after mass stabbing

d

Pictured: US tourist arrested for sailing to remote island and leaving a can of Coke for world's most isolated tribe

The Sentinelese are a pre-Neolithic tribe that rejects contact with the modern world

US tourist arrested for sailing to remote island and leaving a can of Coke for the world's most isolated tribe to try

The Trump administration has been ridiculed after imposing tariffs on uninhabited islands

'No one is safe, not even the penguins': Trump administration ridiculed after imposing tariffs on uninhabited islands

World leaders react to US tariffs

'This is not the act of a friend': World leaders react to Trump's 'unwarranted' tariffs

British couple

British couple found dead in New Zealand named - as police probe possible murder-suicide

Virginia Giuffre said she had been left with 'four days to life' after the crash

Bus driver breaks silence on Virginia Giuffre crash that left her 'with four days to live'

Foreign Secretary David Lammy

David Lammy to urge Nato allies to increase defence spending in bid to make alliance 'stronger, fairer and more lethal'

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

EU threatens further countermeasures against US tariffs after 'major blow to world economy'

Lord Sugar labels Trump tariffs 'a disaster' as Apprentice star teases potential US Presidential meeting

Lord Sugar labels Trump tariffs 'a disaster' and warns that the president 'hasn't thought it through'

Buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations in Gaza

Israel expands ground attack on Gaza to seize 'large areas' - despite pleas from hostage families

Police said two people died on Palliser Road, Roseneath.

British couple found dead at home in New Zealand - just months after moving to 'begin new chapter'

Virginia Giuffre warned it was a "very bad situation" after she claimed a school bus ploughed into her car

Virginia Giuffre was charged with breaching restraining order days before crash that 'left her with days to live'