Gubad Ibadoglu nominated for Andrey Sakharov Prize
Azerbaijani scientist, anti-corruption activist and politician Gubad Ibadoglu is among three nominees for the European Parliament's Sakharov ‘Prize for Freedom of Thought’ for 2024.
Members of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Development Committees selected the three finalists for the Prize in a secret ballot on Thursday, according to a statement on the organization's website. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20241011IPR24524/2024-sakharov-prize-finalists-shortlisted-by-meps
Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the leader of Venezuela's democratic forces and President-elect of that country, is second on the list of nominees.
The third nominee is two partner organizations -- the Palestinian association 'Women for Peace' and the Arab-Jewish organization 'Women of the Sun', Israel/Palestine.
Recall that Ibadoglu was nominated by the Greens/European Free Alliance faction. Dr Gubad Ibadoglu is an Azerbaijani academic and anti-corruption activist. He was arrested in 2023 after criticizing the country's oil and gas industry and setting up a charity to recover stolen state resources.
He is now under house arrest and faces up to 17 years of imprisonment. His detention was the start of an ongoing crackdown on academics and civil society ahead of the COP29 forum that Baku will host in November. In its resolution of April 2024, the European Parliament called for the charges against him to be dropped and the travel ban to be lifted,’ the European Parliament said.
MEP President Roberta Metsola and leaders of political groups will choose the laureate on Thursday 24 October. The winner will be announced immediately afterwards at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
The award ceremony, which includes a prize of €50,000, will take place at the December plenary in Strasbourg.
Politics
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On October 17, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that they have eliminated three militants in the Gaza Strip, one of whom may be Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Palestinian movement “Hamas.” “At this stage, the identities of the terrorists have not been confirmed. No signs of hostages were found in the building where the terrorists were eliminated,” the IDF press service stated.
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The health of Famil Khalilov, a first-group disabled activist who has been on hunger strike for 65 days, has worsened in detention. His wife, Kichikhanim Khalilova, reported to Turan after visiting him on October 17 in the medical unit of the detention facility. "Famil's body is no longer accepting water. Today he tried to drink several times, but he vomited each time. He is experiencing severe abdominal pain, and his legs are cramping," Khalilova noted. According to her, medical staff have shown no interest in Khalilov's health this week. Attempts to obtain comments from the Penitentiary Service were unsuccessful.
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Sunná Evarsdóttir, the General Rapporteur of PACE on political prisoners, has expressed concern regarding the deteriorating health of Anar Mammadli, the head of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Training Center, who is imprisoned in Azerbaijan. "I am troubled by reports of Anar Mammadli's worsening health and the lack of adequate medical treatment provided to him. As the General Rapporteur on political prisoners, I urge the Azerbaijani authorities to grant him immediate access to necessary medical care and to review the charges against him," she stated on the “X” platform.
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Public activist Nijat Ibrahim, after being detained, inflicted bodily injuries on himself due to attempts to force him to incriminate himself. Turan informed her friend Parvin Ibrahim about this. According to her, on September 9, her husband was detained by the police, and a criminal case was opened against him under Article 126.1 (intentional infliction of serious damage to health) of the Criminal Code. "The Nasimi district police put physical pressure on him to admit the charge. In protest, he took a stationery knife from the table and cut his throat to commit suicide. He was taken to the hospital, where his husband received 17 stitches.
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