On Monday 2 October, the European Parliament presented the six nominees for the Sakharov Prize for Human Rights 2017 during a joint meeting of the foreign affairs and development committees, along with the sub-committee for human rights (see EUROPE 11863).
Anna Elżbieta Fotyga supported the nomination of Pakistani woman Asia Bibi, which was proposed Foyga's group, the ECR. Asia Bibi is the first woman in the world to have been condemned to death under Pakistani blasphemy law. Sentenced to capital punishment in the lower court, and then on appeal, she is now awaiting the decision of the Pakistani supreme court. "Her behaviour in prison is full of dignity. A dignity appropriate to human rights defenders, even in the face of the worst circumstances", Fotyga stated.
The Greens/EFA Group presented Guatemalan woman Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic, who defends the rights of indigenous people and the land, and who is threatened with death for her actions. "It is vital to protect those who fight to defend the planet", Molly Scott Cato stated, adding that defending the planet is "defending life". "Voting for Lolita is voting for life", she said. Florent Marcellesi made an appeal "to give the prize for the first time to a woman who defends the environment and the right of indigenous people".
On behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Marie-Christine Vergiat supported the nomination of Selahattin Demirta and Figen Yüksekda, the co-leaders of the Kurdish HDP, who are in prison in Turkey. "For us, they are the symbol of the repression that is raging in Turkey. Figen and Selahattin are parliamentarians and the fate meted out to parliamentarians should be particularly close to our hearts – all the more so when this is about defenders of human rights, like Selahattin Demirta, and of women's rights, like Figen Yüksekda", Vergiat said.
The democratic opposition in Venezuela has been proposed both by the EPP and ALDE Groups, at a time when there are tough crackdowns on the opposition there. According to José Ignacio Salafranca, for the EPP, giving the Venezuelan democratic opposition the Sakharov Prize would be "a prize for all the people who have lost their freedom in the name of the values we defend". For Beatriz Becerra Basterrechea, on behalf of ALDE, the European Parliament should "pay tribute to the imprisoned parliamentarians, to the hundreds of political prisoners, who are in prison for their freedom of conscience, to the students who have lost their lives in the streets of Venezuela. We must use the (Sakharov) prize to defend those who are suffering the tyranny (of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro), to send a signal to the world that we are not just walking away", she said.
The S&D Group, and also Cecilia Wikström and 46 other MEPs, gave their support to Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak, who was arrested in Eritrea over 16 years ago.
"The regime condemned him to a living death, his only crime being to have expressed his opinion, to defend the freedom of the press, which is deemed as an attack on national security", Elena Valenciano said on behalf of the S&D. "Giving him the prize is giving the voice back to someone whom they wanted to silence, it's putting international pressure on Eritrea", she said. Stating that Isaak is a European citizen, Wikström said that "everyday away from his family is a failure for the EU". "No one knows if he is still alive. We should do our utmost to get him released", she urged.
For the EFDD, Fabio Castaldo presented Burundian national Pierre Claver Mbonimpa. "Pierre is a hero who has fought his whole life, and continues to do so, for his terrified people. He lives under the shadow of a regime that kills and tortures thousands of people (...) His word conveys what is most precious to us, what we are at risk of losing (...) humanism", he said.
MEPs from the foreign affairs and development committees will select the three finalists on 10 October, and the conference of presidents will announce the winner(s) on 26 October. The 2017 Sakharov Prize will be officially awarded in Strasbourg on 13 December. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)