BRUSSELS – Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov is on the short list of three candidates nominated in the European Parliament for the Sakharov Prize.
Following a joint vote by MEPs in Brussels on Oct. 9 in the Foreign Affairs and Development committees, the three finalists for the 2018 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought are: non-governmental organisations protecting human rights and saving the lives of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea, Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, and Moroccan political activist Nasser Zefzafi.
The European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents (presidents and political group leaders) will select the final laureate on Oct. 25. The prize will be awarded at a ceremony in the parliament in Strasbourg on Dec. 12.
The initiative to nominate Sentsov, who is on hunger strike in protest against the detention by the Kremlin of around 70 Ukrainian political prisoners, came from two MEPs from the European People Party’s group — Germany’s Michael Gahler and Slovakia’s Eduard Kukan.
If Sentsov wins, he will be the first European Laureate for nine years, and the first Ukrainian to win the prize.
Sentsov declared an indefinite hunger strike on May 14. Over more than 140 days, the 42-year-old film director is reported by his lawyer to have lost around 20 kilograms in weight. He has also reportedly developed problems with his kidneys and heart.
Reports appeared on Oct. 5 that Sentsov had ended his hunger strike. Sentsov wrote in a letter made public on Oct. 6 that he was ending his protest.
The European Union has repeatedly called on Russia to free Sentsov, who was jailed for 20 years after being subjected to a sham trial in a Kremlin-controlled court in 2015. Human rights groups declared the trial unfair after two key witnesses against Sentsov retracted their testimony, saying it had been given under duress.
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named in honor of the Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, is awarded every year by the European Parliament. It was established in 1988 to honor individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.
