The far-right Identity and Democracy group of the European Parliament nominates the controversial American businessman Elon Musk for the 2023 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, for which the young Iranian Mahsa Amini has also been nominated.
The list of nine nominations was announced this Wednesday at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Development Committees and the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Assembly, where the political groups presented their chosen ones, and each nominee must have the support of at least Forty members of the European Parliament and each parliamentarian can only support one name.
The political group Identity and Democracy, created in the current term of the European Assembly, started in 2019 and has 73 memberschose North American businessman Elon Musk.
In turn, the largest political groups – the European People’s Party and the Socialists and Democrats – they chose Mahsa Amini, the young Iranian woman who died in police custody a year ago after being arrested for not wearing a proper veil and violating Islamic dress codes.
These parties also elected the women of Iran and the civil movement that represents them, the Women, Life, Freedom Movement.
The same nomination was made by the parliamentary group Renew Europe.
The European Conservatives and Reformists chose the pro-European people of Georgia and Nino Lomjaria, a former Georgian public defender, and the Greens/European Free Alliance nominated Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate.
The Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left highlighted women fighting for free, safe and legal abortion, including activists Justyna Wydrzynska from Poland, Morena Herrera from El Salvador and Colleen McNichols from the United States.
Another 59 MEPs chose Afghan education activists such as Marzia Amiri, Parasto Hakim and Matiullah Wesa.
And another 43 parliamentarians selected the lawyer and human rights activist Vilma Núñez de Escorcia and Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez Lagos from Nicaragua.
This list of nine nominees is followed by a shorter list of three names.
The winner will be announced in October and the awards ceremony will take place during the December plenary session in the French city of Strasbourg.
In 2022, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought was awarded to the Ukrainian people.
Every year in September, Members of the European Parliament and political groups nominate candidates for the Sakharov Prize.
The applications – signed and accompanied by supporting documents – are then assessed at a joint meeting of parliamentary committees, A list of three candidates will then be drawn up and submitted for a final decision to the Conference of Presidents, composed of the leader of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and those responsible for the political groups.
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, first awarded to Nelson Mandela and Anatoli Marchenko in 1988, is the European Union’s highest honor for human rights work.
Recognizes individuals, groups and organizations that have made an outstanding contribution to protecting freedom of thought.
Source: DN
