Alexei Navalny, Russian opposition leader, wins Sakharov Prize for freedom of conscience

The European Parliament is going to award the Sakharov Prize for freedom of conscience for the year 2021 on Wednesday to the Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, one of the great political opponents of Vladimir Putin and who has been in prison since February of this year.

The leaders of the European parliamentary groups mostly supported this candidacy over the other favorite, that of a group of Afghan women in defense of human rights and equality, and that of the former interim president of Bolivia Jeanine Áñez, sources told Efe. parliamentarians.

The official announcement will be made in the plenary session of the European Parliament at 3:00 p.m. (1:00 p.m. GMT).

Navalni was sentenced last February to two and a half years in prison for having breached the terms of his probation while recovering in Germany after being poisoned with a Novichok-class chemical agent that, according to him, was ordered directly by the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin.

Held in a prison in the Vladimir region, about 200 kilometers from Moscow, he has repeatedly denounced that he is not being provided adequate medical care and went on a hunger strike last April for 23 days to protest this situation.

A few years ago the well-known blogger opposed to the Putin regime jumped to international recognition by running for office in his country and promoting anti-corruption reforms.

In fact, he had already received a candidacy for the Sakharov Prize in 2019 after being detained that year on charges of calling an illegal demonstration to protest against the Russian authorities’ refusal to register non-official candidates in local elections.