Journalists imprisoned in Belarus and Georgia win EUs prime human rights award

Two journalists, one imprisoned in Belarus and the opposite in Georgia, have gained the European Union’s prime human rights honour, the Sakharov Prize, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola introduced on Wednesday (October 22, 2025).

Andrzej Poczobut is a correspondent for the influential Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. He was convicted of “harming Belarus’ nationwide safety” and sentenced to eight years, which he’s serving within the Novopolotsk penal colony.

Mzia Amaghlobeli, a outstanding journalist who based two of Georgia’s unbiased media shops, was convicted in August of slapping a police chief throughout an anti-government protest. She was sentenced to 2 years in jail in a case that was condemned by rights teams as an try to curb media freedom.

“Both are journalists presently in jail on trumped up fees merely for doing their work and for talking out in opposition to injustice. Their braveness has made them symbols of the battle for freedom and democracy,” Ms. Metsola mentioned on the parliament in Strasbourg, France.

The annual EU award, named after Soviet dissident Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, was created in 1988 to honour people or teams who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The winner is chosen by senior EU lawmakers from amongst candidates nominated by the European Parliament’s varied political teams. The meeting says the award is “the very best tribute paid by the European Union to human rights work.”

Belarus opposition chief Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who, alongside together with her husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski and others against the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko, gained the prize in 2020, mentioned that awarding it to the reporters this 12 months “sends a powerful message to all political prisoners that you’re not alone and journalism will not be against the law.”

Several Sakharov laureates, together with Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Venezuelan opposition chief María Corina Machado, who gained the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month, picked up the Sakharov final 12 months.

The award, which comes with a €50,000 ($58,000) endowment, can be introduced in a ceremony on the European Parliament in Strasbourg in December.