SAKHAROV PRIZE FOR FREEDOM OF THOUGHT

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1988 (Strasbourg, France) by the European Parliament as a means to honour individuals or organisations who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedom of thought. A shortlist of nominees is drawn up by the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Development Committee, with the winner announced in October. As of 2010, the prize is accompanied by a monetary award of €50,000.

The first prize was awarded jointly to South African Nelson Mandela and Russian Anatoly Marchenko. The prize has also been awarded to different organisations throughout its history, the first being the Argentine Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (1992).

The Sakharov Prize is usually awarded annually on or around 10 December, the day on which the United Nations General Assembly ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, also celebrated as Human Rights Day.

2013 Awardes

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen shot by the Taliban for championing girls' education won the European Union's (EU) Sakharov human rights prize 2013 on 10 October 2013.

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen shot by the Taliban for championing girls' education, and US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden have been nominated for the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize on 17 September 2013.

Recent year recipients

Year	Recipient	Nationality	Notes
2009	Memorial	Russia	International civil rights and historical society
2010	Guillermo Fariñas	Cuba	Doctor, journalist and political dissident
2011	Asmaa Mahfouz, Ahmed al-Senussi, Razan Zaitouneh, Ali Farzat, Mohamed Bouazizi (posthumously)	Egypt Libya Syria Syria Tunisia	Five representatives of the Arab people, in recognition and support of their drive for freedom and human rights.
2012	Jafar Panahi, Nasrin Sotoudeh	Iran	Iranian activists, Sotoudeh is a lawyer and Panahi is a film director.