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European Parliament Awards 2025 Sakharov Prize to Andrzej Poczobut and Mzia Amaglobeli

The award signals Parliament’s push for their release, intensifying pressure over crackdowns on independent media.

Overview

  • Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced the laureates on October 22, naming the detained journalists from Belarus and Georgia.
  • Andrzej Poczobut, a Belarusian journalist from the Polish minority, has been held since 2021 and is serving an eight-year penal-colony sentence.
  • The Parliament reports Poczobut’s health has worsened in custody and says his family is not allowed to visit him.
  • Mzia Amaglobeli, director of Batumelebi and Netgazeti, was arrested after January 2025 protests and received a two-year sentence in August, becoming Georgia’s first female political prisoner since independence.
  • EU lawmakers reiterated demands for both to be freed, pressed for targeted measures including sanctions and an EU-Georgia agreement review, and hosted Belarusian opposition leaders in Strasbourg.