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.