Sakharov Prize 2024 goes to Venezuelan opposition leaders
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado and President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia received the 2024 Sakharov Prize for the Freedom of Thought.
The European Parliament awarded the 2024 Sakharov Prize for the Freedom of Thought to María Corina Machado as the leader of the democratic forces in Venezuela and President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia, representing all Venezuelans inside and outside the country fighting for the re-institution of freedom and democracy.
The ceremony in Strasbourg on 17 December was attended in person by González and by Machado’s daughter, Ana Corina Sosa. Machado addressed MEPs remotely as she is in hiding because of threats to her life.
“This award is not just a recognition but also a reminder that the fight for freedom is never in vain. The future of Venezuela belongs to its people and the European Parliament stands proudly with them,” said Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament.
Receiving the award in person, González paid tribute to fellow Venezuelans: “It is those people [of Venezuela] who truly embody the spirit of this award, in recognition of the courageous struggle to restore freedom and democracy in Venezuela."
He also turned to MEPs, saying: “Venezuela counts on you, because the struggle for freedom and democracy in our country is also the struggle for these values all over the world. Long live free Venezuela!”
In her message Machado said: “The triumph of Venezuela will be the triumph of humanity, of each individual and each society that decides to jointly carve out a future in freedom.”
About the laureates
Machado won primary elections in 2023 to run as the candidate of the democratic opposition (Unitary Platform) in the 2024 presidential elections, but after she was arbitrarily disqualified by the Venezuelan regime, González became the candidate.
The lead-up to the July 2024 elections saw widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests, and human rights violations. Venezuela’s incumbent president Nicolás Maduro declared victory in the elections but the results were contested by independent observers, including the UN. The European Parliament recognised González as the legitimate president of Venezuela in a resolution in September 2024.
Among protests and political repression, Machado went into hiding, fearing for her life. On 2 September 2024, a Venezuelan court issued an arrest warrant for González, drawing international condemnation. He moved to Spain where he was granted asylum.
Both were nominated by the European People's Party, while The European Conservatives and Reformists nominated Edmundo González Urrutia.
Other finalists of the 2024 Sakharov Prize
The Venezuelan opposition leaders were one of three finalists for the European Parliament’s prize, determined through a vote by the members of the foreign affairs and development committees on 17 October. The other two finalists were: Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu, academic and anti-corruption activist in Azerbaijan, and women’s movements Women Wage Peace & Women of the Sun, Israel/Palestine.
Dr Ibadoghlu was represented by his daughter Zhala Bayramova at the ceremony on 17 December; and the women's movements were represented by Pascale Chen (Women Wage Peace) and Reem Al Hajajra (Women of the Sun).
Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu
Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu is an Azerbaijani academic and anti-corruption activist. He was arrested in 2023 after criticising the country’s oil and gas industry and creating a charity to return stolen public resources. Now under house arrest, he faces up to 17 years in prison.
His detention was the start of an ongoing crackdown on academics and civil society ahead of the COP29 forum, which Baku will host in November. In its April 2024 resolution, Parliament called for charges against him to be dropped and his travel ban lifted.
He was nominated by the Greens/EFA.
Women Wage Peace & Women of the Sun
Women of the Sun is an independent Palestinian women’s movement, founded in 2021, and involving women, youth, and children from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the wider Palestinian diaspora. They seek to spread cultural and national awareness about peace between communities.
Women Wage Peace is an Arab-Jewish movement created in 2014. Their aim is to promote a non-violent, respectful, and mutually accepted solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the active participation of women through all stages of negotiations.
In March 2022, the two organisations announced a partnership to end the cycle of bloodshed. Their leaders have received numerous accolades and are nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
They were nominated by the Socialists & Democrats and Renew Europe.
The other nominees
Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, the owner of X (formerly Twitter) and founder of several companies including Neuralink and OpenAI, was nominated by the Patriots for Europe and the Europe of Sovereign Nations groups. He acquired Twitter in 2022 declaring that he aims to protect freedom of expression. In 2024, he reinstated banned accounts, arguing that controversial opinions deserve debate to safeguard democracy.
Musk also exposed censorship practices through the Twitter Files and advocated for regulation that protects diverse opinions. Additionally, he is committed to expanding internet access in remote areas, promoting digital inclusion and equality in information access.
Journalists in Palestine (Hamza and Wael Al-Dahdouh, Plestia Alaqad, Shireen Abu Akleh and Ain Media in honour of Yasser Murtaja and Roshdi Sarraj) were nominated by the Left. At least 116 journalists, including 111 Palestinians, have been killed in the Gaza strip since 7 October 2023. Many more journalists have been assaulted, detained, or threatened, have gone missing or faced censorship and cyberattacks.
Among those killed while covering the conflict are Shireen Abu Akleh, Hamza Al-Dahdouh, Yasser Murtaja and Roshdi Sarraj. Despite the dangers, journalists continue their work to reveal the truth about the situation in Gaza, often without protection or international oversight.
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought
Each year Parliament awards the Sakharov Prize, including a monetary award of €50,000, to honour and support exceptional individuals and organisations defending human rights, democracy and fundamental freedoms. The laureates of 2023 were Jina Mahsa Amini and the Women, Life, Freedom Movement in Iran.
The nominations in 2024, that could be made by either political groups or by at least 40 MEPs, were presented during a joint meeting of the foreign affairs and development committees and the human rights subcommittee on 26 September 2024.
The prize, launched in 1988, is named after Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet nuclear physicist and a strong defender of democracy and human rights. He won the 1975 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to raise awareness to the dangers of the nuclear arms race.
