Lobau, Bialiatski and Statkievich are Sakharov prize nominees

40 members of the European Parliament signed the document nominating the Belarusian political prisoners for the Sakharov prize.

MEPs Marek Migalski and Filip Kaczmarek were the initiators of the signature collenting together with the deputy chairman of the European Parliament Jacek Protasiewicz, Radio Svaboda reports.

The head of the Viasna human rights center Ales Bialiatski was nominated for the Sakharov prize last year too. He finished second in the number of votes. However the prize then went to the Iranians – a lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and a film director Jafar Panahi, who are currently imprisoned in their country.

The prize named after the soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov was founded in December 1985 by the European Parliament. It is awarded to people or organizations, which defend people’s rights and freedoms.