Home > News Archive > Dalai Lama among eight nominees for EU human rights prize

Dalai Lama among eight nominees for EU human rights prize

By Lobsang Wangyal

A file photo of the Dalai Lama during his visit to London on 21 May 2008. The Dalai Lama is among eight nominess for the European Parliament’s 2008 Sakharov prize. UPI/Hugo Philpott/UK

He is among eight nominees for the award, according to the website of the European Parliament. The Sakharov prize, which honours world figures EU considers to be beacons of democracy and human rights, marks its 20th anniversary this year.

“To mark the occasion, a special event to which all previous winners of the prize are to be invited will take place in Strasbourg in December,” an EU parliament spokesman has said.

The other nominees for the award include the former Colombian presidential candidate and political prisoner Ingrid Betancourt, and Hu Jia, the imprisoned Chinese campaigner on democracy, environmental issues and HIV/AIDS.

The list is rounded out by Alexandr Kozulin, a Belarussian political prisoner and leader of a civic initiative for freedom in his country, and Abbot Apollinaire Malu Malu, chairman of the independent electoral commission in the Congo and leader of efforts to achieve a peaceful end to conflict in his country.

Also up for nomination are Mikhail Trepashkin, a prominent dissident and human rights activist in Russia, and Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC opposition party in Zimbabwe.

The list is completed by the European Roma Rights Centre, an NGO defending the human rights of Roma people.

The nominations will be officially presented on 9 September to a joint meeting of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee, which will narrow down the number of candidates to a shortlist of three. Candidates may be nominated by a political group, or by a minimum of 40 members of the European Parliament.

The conference of presidents, or group leaders, will select the winner in mid-October, and the prize will be awarded at the Strasbourg plenary in December.

Copyright © 2008 Tibet Sun

Published in Tibet Sun