2025 Sakharov Prize: Parliament honours Andrzej Poczobut and Mzia Amaglobeli

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola awarded the 2025 Sakharov Prize to the representatives of two journalists imprisoned in Belarus and Georgia, at a ceremony on 16 December in Strasbourg.

“I am proud to award this year’s Sakharov Prize to journalists Andrzej Poczobut and Mzia Amaglobeli in recognition of their brave fight for freedom of expression and the democratic future of Belarus and Georgia,” Roberta Metsola said. “This House stands in solidarity with Mzia and Andrzej and calls for their immediate release from prison – because speaking truth to power must never be a crime.”

Andrzej Poczobut, journalist, essayist, blogger and member of the Polish minority in Belarus, was represented by his daughter, Jana Poczobut.

“It is a great honour to stand here today and accept this award on behalf of my father. (…) For almost five years now, my family has lived with silence, uncertainty, and the absence of someone we love,” Jana Poczobut said to the MEPs. “When we speak (their) names out loud, they stop being statistics. They become real again. And that is why your attention, the attention of the European Parliament, matters so much. It preserves human dignity where everything else tries to erase it.”

Mzia Amaglobeli, Georgian journalist, co-founder and director of independent media outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, was represented by her fellow journalist Irma Dimitradze who also works for Batumelebi.

She read a speech from Mzia Amaglobeli to the Members: “I accept (this award) on behalf of my colleagues, the journalists who are now fighting in Georgia to save journalism as such. They work tirelessly to make sure that you hear the voice of resistance of Georgia’s citizens, that the truth is not silenced.”

Referring to the authorities in her home country, Mzia Amaglobeli wrote: “This regime is ruthless (…). It destroys free journalism, abolishes opposition political parties and imprisons their leaders, effectively dismantles non-governmental organisations, labels those who work in them as ‘foreign agents’ (…). Yet it has failed to silence the protests. Perhaps this is why the European Union’s statements in support of the Georgian people have been stronger and more precise than ever. And for this, I am deeply grateful.”

Named after Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is the EU’s highest distinction in the field of human rights. Since 1988, it has been awarded by Parliament to individuals, groups or organisations every year, in recognition of their work defending human rights, freedom of expression and democratic values. It includes €50,000 in prize money.

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