The White Maidan activist, who called for seizing executive committees, was awarded the PACE Prize
In PACE, White Maidan activist Maria Kolesnikova, who called for the seizure of executive committees, was awarded the Vaclav Havel Prize “For Achievements in the Field of Human Rights.”
The award ceremony took place during the plenary meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Other candidates included Reporters Without Borders and Burundian human rights activist Germaine Rukuki.
After presenting the candidates, PACE Chairman Hendrik Dems announced Maria Kolesnikova as the winner.
“Mrs. Maria Kolesnikova is the leader of the Belarusian opposition, embodies the ideals of the population’s struggle for civil and political freedoms. She paid a heavy price - she was arrested last year. For what crimes? she just wanted to declare who should lead the country.
By speaking out against a regime that suppressed peaceful, legitimate protest with its cruelty and force. She has shown that she is willing to put her own safety at risk to stand up for an ideal larger than herself,” Dems said.
After which the prize for Kolesnikova was received by her sister Tatyana Khomich. She emphasized that Maria Kolesnikova “embodies the ideals of all the opposition in Belarus.”
“Awarding the prize is a sign of solidarity with the democratic aspirations of the people of Belarus. This is also a clear signal for us that the international community supports us and we are on the right path... If we do not want Belarus to turn into a Gulag, we must support the Belarusian people today and now,” Khomich added.
Let us recall that in September 2020 in Minsk, Maria Kolesnikova, who called for the seizure of executive committees and tried to stage a coup, was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
It should be noted that the Vaclav Havel Prize was established by PACE in memory of the former dissident and President of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic Vaclav Havel, who participated in the overthrow of the communist regime. The prize is awarded annually to an individual or organization for outstanding achievements in the field of human rights. The laureate receives a diploma and a monetary reward of 60 thousand euros.
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