MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committees on Foreign Affairs and Development voted on Thursday 13 October to select the finalists for the 2022 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. These are the “courageous people of Ukraine”, represented by its President, elected leaders and civil society (proposed by the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe and ECR), Julian Assange, one of the activists behind the WikiLeaks organisation (nominated by a group of MEPs) and the Colombian Truth Commission, which aims to establish the facts about human rights abuses during the conflict and defend the rights of millions of its victims (proposed by The Left).
The other candidates were environmental and indigenous activist in Brazil, Sônia Guajajara, nominated by the Greens/EFA, and Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead in May 2022 while covering an IDF raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. She was proposed by a group of MEPs.
The 2022 winner will be selected on Wednesday 19 October by the European Parliament Conference of Presidents and the prize will be awarded at a plenary session ceremony in Strasbourg on 14 December. Barring any surprises, the prize is likely to go to the Ukrainian people. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)