Overview
- Andrzej Poczobut and Mzia Amaghlobeli were named laureates, with President Roberta Metsola calling their convictions “trumped-up” and praising their courage.
- Poczobut, a Gazeta Wyborcza correspondent from Belarus’s Polish minority, is serving an eight-year sentence handed down in 2023, with reports of deteriorating health and periods in solitary confinement.
- Amaghlobeli, founder of Batumelebi and Netgazeti, received a two-year sentence in August on charges of using violence against an official, a verdict condemned by EU bodies and journalist groups.
- Other finalists included a Serbian student protest movement and journalists and humanitarian workers in Gaza, reflecting the prize’s broader political and human-rights focus.
- The €50,000 award will be presented in Strasbourg on December 16 during the European Parliament’s plenary session.