Alyaksandr Milinkevich Officially Nominated for Sakharov Prize :: Charter'97 :: News

Today at the joint session of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Committee on Development and Subcommittee on Human Rights nominees for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought - 2006 were presented officially. The leader of the Belarusian opposition Alyaksandr Milinkevich is among the 10 candidates, Radio Svaboda informs.

Alyaksandr Milinkevich was nominated for this prestigious prize by a dominating parliamentary group, the European People’s Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED), and by Union for Europe of the Nations (UEN).

Explaining the choice of a candidate for the prize, Vice-Speaker of the European Parliament Jacek Sariusz-Wolski (EPP-ED) said that the cause of Milinkevich is close to Sakharov’s one. Milinkevich can influence people. Besides, as said by him, Alyaksandr Milinkevich needs defence of the world community. He is fighting for common values on which the EU has been founded.

“It’s a prize for freedom of thought, and in today’s Belarus only thoughts can be free,” told a deputy Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka (Union for Europe of the Nations).

In 2004 the annual Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought was awarded to the Belarusian Association of Journalists.