The imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny will receive the European Parliament’s human rights prize this year.
Navalny has been in a Russian penal camp since he narrowly survived a poisoning attempt.
Afghan women’s and civil rights activists and an imprisoned Bolivian former president were also nominated for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The winner will receive 50,000 euros. The prize will be awarded on December 15, but Navalny will not be able to receive it himself.
The Christian Democrats in the European Parliament, who make up the largest group, announced the winner. They immediately called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to release Navalny. The EU has imposed punitive measures on Russia for the conviction and imprisonment of the Kremlin critic.
The Sakharov Prize is named after Soviet dissident and Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov and has been awarded since 1988. Last year the prize went to the women leaders of the opposition in Belarus.
