BELARUS: The European Union's highest human rights award, the Sakharov Prize, has been awarded to the leader of the opposition in Belarus, Alexander Milinkevich.
The prize, which is conferred by the leaders of the European Parliament's political groups, is presented every year to an individual or group judged to have made a notable achievement in defence of human rights or the promotion of democracy and respect for international law.
Mr Milinkevich (59) was the nearest rival to Belarussian president Alexander Lukashenko in elections last March, and led days of protests against a landslide victory which the opposition and Western states alleged was rigged. He was jailed for 15 days in April for taking part in an unauthorised rally in Minsk.
He visited the parliament twice earlier this year to seek the EU's support against Mr Lukashenko's authoritarian regime, arguing against economic sanctions but proposing a travel ban on hundreds of Belarussian officials responsible for electoral violations in the ex-Soviet republic.
In April, EU foreign ministers sanctioned a ban on Mr Lukashenko and 30 ministers, prosecutors and election officials from entering the bloc, and this was followed a month later by a decision to freeze the assets of the same 30 as well as six more officials.
The other nominees were Lebanese journalist Ghassan Tueni and "all those fighting for the hostages kidnapped in Colombia", represented by Ingrid Betancourt.