Two Forum members nominated for Václav Havel Human Rights Prize

28.08.2013

Ales Bialiatski from Belarus and the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association from Georgia were shortlisted candidates of 27 candidatures which fulfilled the criteria for the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, announced annually by the Council of Europe. The third candidate was the Rights Defence Network from China.

The selection panel, comprising six independent figures was chaired by Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

“A reaction is needed when human rights are under threat, and this is what we do. But it is also necessary to encourage and place the spotlight on those who commit themselves to human rights, and this is something we perhaps do a little less. This is what the Prize does,” said Jean-Claude Mignon, when announcing the outcome of the voting.

On 29 September the panel will name the winner of the Prize and will be officially announced by the PACE President on the first day of the autumn session in Strasbourg, 30 September.

The Václav Havel Human Rights Prize aims to reward outstanding civil society action in the defense of human rights in Europe and beyond is awarded each year by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in partnership with the Václav Havel Library and the Charta 77 Foundation and is worth €60 000.

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