The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought will be awarded to Yazidi survivors of ISIS Nadia Murad Basee and Lamina Aji Bashar, European sources stated Thursday. The official announcement is planned for 12:00.
Natives of Kocho, an Iraqi village desecrated by Daesh throughout the summer of 2014, they are among thousands of young girls and women who have been kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery.
In September 2016, Nadia Murad was named UN First Goodwill Ambassador for the dignity shown by those like her who are survivors of human trafficking. She is seeking that the persecutions committed in 2014 against Yazidis – a Kurd-speaking minority persecuted by Jihadists – be considered genocide.
The two women were nominated for the Sakharov Prize by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) groups.
Other finalists were Can Dündar, for defending freedom of expression in Turkey, and leader of Crimean Tatars Moustafa Djemilev.
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is awarded every year by the European Parliament. It was created in 1988 to honour individual or collective personalities who struggle for defending human rights and fundamental liberties.
Last year the prize was given to Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, and in 2014 to Denis Mukwege, a gynaecologist from Congo.
(Source: Belga)
