The winners of the 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought are Andrzej Poczobut, a journalist, essayist, blogger, and activist representing the Polish minority in Belarus, and Mzia Amaglobeli, a Georgian journalist.
"By awarding this year's Sakharov Prize to Andrzej Poczobut from Belarus and Mzia Amaglobeli from Georgia, we are honoring two journalists whose courage shines like a beacon for all those who refuse to be silenced. Both have paid a high price for telling the truth to those in power and have become symbols of the struggle for freedom and democracy," said Parliament President Roberta Metsola in the plenary session of the European Parliament.
Poczobut is known for his outspoken criticism of Alexander Lukashenko's regime. He has been imprisoned since 2021 and sentenced to eight years in a penal colony. His current state of health is unknown, and his family is not allowed to visit him.
Amaglobeli was arrested in January 2025 for participating in protests critical of the government and sentenced to two years in prison in August. “As the first political prisoner in Georgia since independence and a defender of freedom of expression, she has become a symbol of the pro-democracy movement that has been protesting against the Georgian Dream party's government since the controversial elections in October 2024,” says the European Parliament's website, which had previously called for the immediate release of both laureates.
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