Hu Jia, Aleksandr Kozulin and Abbot Apollinaire Malu Malu are the three finalists for this year's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the European Parliament's award for human rights and democracy campaigners. The three names were chosen on Monday evening at a joint meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Development Committee from a list of seven candidates put forward by MEPs. The winner will be chosen in mid-October.
The three finalists are (in alphabetical order):
Hu Jia - Chinese campaigner for civil rights, environmental protection and AIDS advocacy. Following his testimony on human rights in China, given on 26 November 2007 via conference call to the EP's Human Rights Subcommittee, Hu Jia was arrested, charged with "inciting subversion of state power" and sentenced to three-and-a-half years' in jail.
Aleksandr Kozulin - Former presidential candidate in Belarus. According to the nomination, "Aleksandr Kozulin has shown great courage to withstand the regime's actions and to fight for freedom of thought and expression and basic civil rights. In 2006, during the presidential campaign, he was beaten several times, detained and finally sentenced to five and a half years of imprisonment".
Abbot Apollinaire Malu Malu - Chair of the Independent Electoral Commission of Democratic Republic of Congo. The nomination praises "his efforts in making dialogue prevail over violence during the Goma conference [aimed at bringing peace to the DRC provinces of North and South Kivu] and for dedicating his wisdom and experience to realising these principles throughout his career".
Winner to be chosen in October
The Conference of Presidents will select the winner in mid-October and the prize will be awarded to the laureate in Strasbourg on 17 December. In addition to the title, the winner receives the sum of €50,000.
20th anniversary of Sakharov Prize
This year is the 20th anniversary of the Sakharov Prize, which was first awarded in 1988 in honour of the Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov. To mark the occasion, a special event to which all previous winners of the prize are being invited will be held in Strasbourg on 16 December, the day before this year's prize is awarded.
Previous winners of the prize
1988 Nelson Mandela and Anatoli Marchenko (posthumously)
1989 Alexander Dubcek
1990 Aung San Suu Kyi
1991 Adem Demaçi
1992 Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo
1993 Oslobodjenje
1994 Taslima Nasreen
1995 Leyla Zana
1996 Wei Jinsheng
1997 Salima Ghezali
1998 Ibrahim Rugova
1999 Xanana Gusmão
2000 ¡Basta Ya!
2001 Izzat Ghazzawi, Nurit Peled-Elhanan and Dom Zacarias Kamwenho
2002 Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas
2003 UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and all the UN staff
2004 Belarusian Association of Journalists
2005 Ladies in White, Hauwa Ibrahim, Reporters without Frontiers
2006 Alexander Milinkevich
2007 Salilh Mahmoud Osman
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