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EU Parliament Awards 2025 Sakharov Prize to Jailed Journalists From Belarus and Georgia

Parliament leaders frame the award as pressure for their release, signaling a defense of press freedom.

Overview

  • European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said Andrzej Poczobut and Mzia Amaghlobeli are imprisoned on fabricated charges for doing their jobs.
  • Mzia Amaghlobeli received a two‑year sentence in August after an alleged slap of a police officer during a January protest in Batumi and she held a roughly 40‑day hunger strike.
  • Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International have condemned Amaghlobeli’s case, citing procedural violations, bias, and alleged police abuse.
  • Andrzej Poczobut, a Polish‑Belarusian journalist, is serving eight years following a closed 2023 trial that found him guilty of offenses including incitement to hatred and calls seen as harming national security.
  • The laureates are slated to be presented in Strasbourg on December 16, with attendance dependent on their release; the award followed a shortlist that also featured Palestinian journalists and humanitarians as well as Serbia’s student movement.