Fraction of European Parliament Nominated “Zubr” for Sakharov Prize

One of fractions of European Parliament nominated Belarusian oppositional youth movement “Zubr” for Sakharov prize which is awarded by the Parliament every year to human rights activists of the world. Konrad Szymanski, deputy of the fraction “Union for Europe of Nations” thusly explained this nomination:

-- I think that violations of human and political rights in Belarus, near the border of European Union, are to be among our priorities. This is the main reason to nominate “Zubr” for this prize. The second reason is to generally draw the attention of European politicians to the events in Belarus. Pitifully enough, often European politicians look far away and don’t see that we have problems and regarding our closest neighbors.”

The first voting on awarding of Sakharov prize will take place in the end of September. This year there are 11 candidates beside “Zubr”. Among them there is Russian human activist, former deputy of state duma Sergey Kovalyov.