Alexeï Navalny, imprisoned in Russia, rewarded for his fight for human rights

Awarded by the European Parliament in Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), Wednesday, December 15, Alexeï Navalny was unable to travel himself to come and collect his award. The opponent of Vladimir Putin, imprisoned in Russia, won the Sakharov Prize for his fight for human rights. “The empty chair in this hemicycle symbolizes once again that the winner of our prize is not free”, lamented David Sassoli, President of the European Parliament.

So it was his daughter, Daria Navalnaya, 20, who came to pick him up, holding up a portrait of her father, imprisoned since January. “When I wrote to my father, I asked him: ‘What would you like me to say on your behalf in your speech?’ He replied: ‘Say that no one can equate Russia with the regime of Vladimir Putin ‘”, she testified. The activist ran for the 2018 presidential election in Russia, but was declared ineligible. Returning from Germany where he was receiving treatment, he was arrested and imprisoned for fraud earlier this year. The European Parliament reiterates its demands for immediate release.