“The imprisoned journalists who fight for freedom”, Andrzej Poczobut in Belarus and Mzia Amaglobeli in Georgia, are the winners of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2025. This was announced from the floor in Strasbourg by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. “They are in prison – Metsola stated – on charge of having done their job. They are a symbol of the fight for freedom and democracy” and they teach us “to never give up” such goals. Metsola also mentioned the other two finalists of the Sakharov Prize (which will be awarded at the plenary session in December): the journalists and humanitarian workers in Palestine and in all conflict zones; and the Serbian students that for months have been rallying for democracy in their country.
Andrzej Poczobut, a journalist, essayist and blogger from the Polish minority in Belarus, known for his criticism of Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, is a symbolic figure in the fight for freedom and democracy in the country. Poczobut has been arrested several times by the Belarusian authorities. In 2021, he was arrested and sentenced to eight years in a labour camp. Sometimes he was held in solitary confinement with no proper medical care, the EU Parliament points out in a statement. His current situation is unknown and his family is not allowed to visit him. Mzia Amaglobeli was arrested in 2025, instead, for taking part in a protest against the government and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on political charges. The first political prisoner in Georgia since Independence and a fighter for freedom of expression, Amaglobeli has become the symbol of Georgia’s pro-democracy movement.