A Sakharov Prize award ceremony of Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, recently released from a Russian prison, will take place on November 26.
A press release with a respective announcement posted on a website of the European Parliament.
“Parliament will hold an award ceremony on November 26 for last year’s Sakharov Prize laureate Oleg Sentsov, recently released from a Russian prison. The ceremony will take place in the European Parliament’s hemicycle in Strasbourg,” reads the report.
Sentsov was nominated for the Sakharov Prize by a group of the European People’s Party in 2018. Member of the Group of the European People’s Party Michael Gahler, the initiator of Sentsov’s nomination for the Sakharov Prize, earlier noted that the Ukrainian was awarded “for freedom of thought and in recognition of his peaceful protest against the illegal occupation of his native Crimea, as well as for courage, determination and belief in supporting human dignity, democracy, the rule of law and human rights.”
Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov was last year’s Sakharov Prize laureate. Until recently, he was serving a 20-year prison sentence in Russia for “plotting terrorist acts” against the Russian “de facto” rule in Crimea. He was released on September 9 following a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine.
The European Parliament has been awarding the Sakharov Prize since 1988 to individuals and organizations that defend human rights and fundamental freedoms.
