O.Sentsov wins 2018 Sakharov Prize
25 October 2018, 14:33
The European Parliament bestows the 2018 Sakharov Prize, the prize for Freedom of Thought, to Oleh Sentsov - a Ukrainian film director, convicted in Russia
Oleh Sentsov was chosen from a shortlist of three by the Parliament’s political group leaders on 25 October.
The finalists
Sentsov was among three finalists for the 2018 Sakharov Prize - the NGOs protecting human rights and saving migrant lives across the Mediterranean Sea and Nasser Zefzafi, the leader of Hirak, a mass protest movement in the Rif region in Morocco.
Announcing this year’s laureate, Parliament’s President Antonio Tajani said: "Through his courage and determination, by putting his life in danger, the film maker Oleh Sentsov has become a symbol of the struggle for the release of political prisoners held in Russia and around the world. By awarding him the Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament is expressing its solidarity with him and his cause. We ask that he be released immediately. His struggle reminds us that it is our ought to defend human rights everywhere in the world and in all circumstances".
Oleh Sentsov is the first Ukrainian to win this honourable prize.
About Oleh Sentsov
Sentsov is a Ukrainian film director, sentenced to twenty years in prison for “plotting terrorist acts” against the Russian “de facto” rule in Crimea. Amnesty International has described the court process as “an unfair trial before a military court”. He has become a symbol for the approximately seventy Ukrainian citizens illegally arrested and given long prison sentences by the Russian occupation forces in the Crimea. Oleh Sentsov was on hunger strike from mid-May until 6 October, when he ended it because of the threat of being force-fed.
Award ceremony
The prize, consisting of a certificate and EUR 50,000 will be awarded during a ceremony in the Parliament in Strasbourg on 12 December 2018.
More on the Sakharov Prize
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named in honour of the Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, has been awarded annually since 1988 to individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the prize.