During the joint meeting of the Committees on Foreign Affairs (AFET), Development (DEVE) and Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) in Strasbourg, Political group members present the six nominees for the 2017 Sakharov Prize. The 29th Sakharov Prize will be awarded during the plenary session on 13 December. The nominees for 2017 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought are Asia Bibi (Aasiya Noreen), Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, Democratic Opposition in Venezuela, Dawit Isaak and Pierre Claver Mbonimpa. They are presented by Anna Elzbieta FOTYGA (ECR, PL), Molly SCOTT CATO (Grenns/EFA, UK), Florent MARCELLESI (Greens/EFA, ES), Marie-Christine VERGIAT (GUE/NGL, FR), Jose Ignacio SALAFRANCA SANCHEZ-NEYRA (EPP, ES), Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA (ALDE, ES), Elena VALENCIANO (S&D, ES), Cecilia WIKSTROM (ALDE, SE) and Fabio Massimo CASTALDO (EFDD, IT).

Committee on Foreign Affairs

Strasbourg

meeting

Subcommittee on Human Rights

SCOTT CATO, Molly (Greens/EFA, UK)

WIKSTRÖM, Cecilia (ALDE, SE)

Committee on Development

MARCELLESI, Florent (Greens/EFA, ES)

SALAFRANCA SÁNCHEZ-NEYRA, José Ignacio (EPP, ES)

VERGIAT, Marie-Christine (GUE/NGL, FR)

BECERRA BASTERRECHEA, Beatriz (ALDE, ES)

FOTYGA, Anna (ECR, PL)

VALENCIANO, Elena (S&D, ES)

CASTALDO, Fabio Massimo (Renew, IT)

Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought 2017 (T)

Sakharov Prize 2017: presentation of the candidates Asia Bibi, Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic, Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, the Democratic Opposition in Venezuela, Dawit Isaak and Pierre Claver Mbonimpa

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/20111282/I144173Chapters%5BSD-EN%5D.srt

SOUNDBITE (English), Anna El&#380;bieta FOTYGA (ECR, PL), The first candidate Ms. Asia Bibi: Miss Asia Bibi is the first woman ever sentenced to death under the well-known Pakistani blasphemy law. She was detained in 2009 after the quarrel in her native village.

SOUNDBITE (English), Anna El&#380;bieta FOTYGA (ECR, PL), This brave woman for 8 years already is awaiting the capital punishment and hoping for her freeing, we look forward to the final sentence of the Supreme Court.

SOUNDBITE (English), Molly SCOTT CATO (Grenns/EFA, UK), The second candidate is Ms. Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic: For the Maya people it is impossible to separate the rights of nature from the rights of people to defend their land is to defend their freedom. And in a world of climate change and environmental derogation threatening the very existence of Humanity it is vital that we protect those who are fighting for the Earth and those of us who dwell within it. Lolita puts its best when she says that we must defend Mother Nature, not because it belongs to us, but because we are part of it.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Florent MARCELLESI (Greens/EFA, ES), The second candidate is Ms. Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic: For first time should the Sakharov Prize to be given to this environmental defender who also represents indigenous communities, as Molly said we have to send out a message in supporting life and courage and that is why Lolita deserves this Prize.

SOUNDBITE (French), Marie-Christine VERGIAT (GUE/NGL, FR), The third candidates are Mr. Selahattin Demirtaş and Ms. Figen Y&uuml;ksekdağ: We nominating them for the Sakharov Prize because are symbols of the repression going on in Turkey, this repression which affected about 150.000 officials including magistrates, there is no justice in Turkey. 50.000 people in prison including journalists which makes Turkey the biggest prison in the world for journalists.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Jos&#233; Ignacio SALAFRANCA S&#193;NCHEZ-NEYRA (EPP, ES), 4th candidate: In Venezuela there is a very courageous group of students and politicians who are scared, they are fighting for their freedom day and day out and I think that since the EP is reference point for democracy and Human rights it would be highly symbolic if it gave the Prize to another Parliament, that is fighting for its life and for people who have been fighting hard for values that we share, thank you.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA (ALDE, ES), 4th candidate: Now we should pay tribute to those who have been fighting peace, who have been thrown into jail and had been beaten up in the National Assembly that has now been abolished. And 100 of political prisoners that have given up their their freedom because of their commitment to freedom of thought. The situation in Venezuela is also affecting us.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Elena VALENCIANO (S&amp;D, ES), 5th candidate: His only crime was that he expressed limberly his opinion, that was defined by the regime as a serious threat to security. Silent diplomacy is often quite important and in this case it hasn&rsquo;t been, there are many people in Sweden who have been working for years so that people don&rsquo;t forget his case, clamouring for his release, but we have to do more. As Mr Salafranca said, it is always a huge task to try and choose one candidate and may seem that we are very cold and taking a technical approach, that we do a sort of ranking and that is impossible.

SOUNDBITE (English), Cecilia WIKSTR&#214;M (ALDE, SE), 5th candidate: Today it is 16 years, 9 days and this hours and 11h00 that he was imprisoned and since then had been kept &lsquo;in-comunicado&rsquo; in a secret prison cell. One person can make a difference, as a journalist Dawit Isaak lent out his voice to those who had no voice at all. He showed courage by speaking truth also to the dictatorship in his country.

SOUNDBITE (English), Cecilia WIKSTR&#214;M (ALDE, SE), 5th candidate: At this September last year I represented the EP on the UN summit on migration where I took the opportunity to ask one of the closest advisors to Eritrean President &lsquo;Jermane Gebrihad&rsquo; if Dawit Isaak is still alive and he answer was, I believe so. According Jermane Gebrihad, Dawit Isaak was one year ago still alive and we should now unite and do our utmost to have him released.

SOUNDBITE (English), Fabio Massimo CASTALDO (EFDD, IT), 6th candidate: He stood up against the terror and the abuses and fought for the rights of those who were imprisoned like him under invented charges and without any juridical process. And later he was not afraid to speak against the regime, the President dictator Pierre Nkurunziza, he illegally was elected for a 3rd mandate and guilty to have put Burundi into a situation of looming risk of genocide as several NGOs and Human rights associations have clearly said.