Opposition leader imprisoned in Russia Alexei Navalny announced on Thursday that European Parliament Receiving the (EP) prestigious Andrei Sakharov Prize for Human Rights is a great honor and a great responsibility.
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“It’s not only a great honor, but also a great responsibility,” Navalny told Twitter, whose social media accounts are managed by his team.
“I am just one of those who fight corruption because I see it not only as a cause of poverty and national degradation, but also as a major threat to human rights,” the 45-year-old politician said.
“I am very grateful to the European Parliament for appreciating our work so much,” Navalny said.
It has already been reported that the EP Sakharov Prize was awarded to Navalny on Wednesday. Opposition was nominated by MEPs from the European Renewal group.
Last year’s Sakharov Prize for Human Rights was awarded to the Belarusian opposition movement.
The Kremlin said today that it did not respect the European Parliament’s decision.
“We respect this institution, but no one can make us respect such decisions,” a Kremlin spokesman said. Dmitry Peskov.
Navalny suffered ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow on August 20 last year, and was unconsciously taken to Omsk Hospital with symptoms of poisoning.
On August 22, Navalny was transferred from Russia to Germany, where he was treated by the Charite clinic at the University of Berlin. On 2 September, Germany stated that indisputable evidence had been obtained that Navalny had been poisoned by a nerve-paralyzing warfare substance belonging to the Novichok group. This conclusion has also been confirmed by laboratories in France and Sweden, as well as by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Navalni believes that behind his poisoning stands the Kremlin, which has repeatedly denied it.
After returning from Germany, Navalny was detained on January 17 at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport.
On February 2, Navalny was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for violating the terms of a suspended prison sentence imposed on him in 2014 while receiving treatment in Germany.
The EP awards the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought each year. It was established in 1988 to honor individuals and organizations that defend human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is named in honor of Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, and also provides a cash prize of 50,000 euros.
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