MEPs and political groups presented on Wednesday their candidates for the Sakharov Prize 2023. In October the vote for the three final nominations.

This year’s nominations were presented during a joint meeting of the Foreign Affairs, Development and Human Rights subcommittee on Wednesday 20 September.

The nine nominees for the 2023 Sakharov Prize are the folowing:

– Mahsa Amini and the women of Iran were nominated by the European People’s Party

– Mahsa Amini and the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement as representatives of the Struggle for Women’s Rights in Iran were nominated by the Socialists and Democrats

– Mahsa Amini and the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement in Iran was nominated by Renew Europe

– Afghan education activists Marzia Amiri, Parasto Hakim and Matiullah Wesa nominated by 59 MEPs

– The pro-European people of Georgia and Nino Lomjaria, the country’s former Ombudsman were nominated by the group of European Conservatives and Reformists

– Elon Musk from the USA was nominated by the Identity and Democracy group

– Vanessa Nakate, Ugandan climate change activist nominated by the Greens

– Vilma Núñez de Escorcia and Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez Lagos from Nicaragua nominated by 43 MEPs

– Women fighting for free, safe and legal abortion, Justyna Wydrzyńska, Morena Herrera and Colleen McNicholas were nominated by the Left team.

The annual Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought has been awarded to individuals and organizations that defend human rights and fundamental freedoms since 1988. It is named in honor of the Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Zakharov and has a cash prize of 50,000 euros.

Nominations are proposed by political groups or by at least 40 MEPs.

Next steps

The winner will be announced in October and the award ceremony will take place during the December plenary in Strasbourg.

Korina Georgiou