Russian Band Pussy Riot Shortlisted for Sakharov Freedom Award

October 09, 2012 from Euronews

Russian punk band Pussy Riot has been shortlisted for this year's prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Three of the musicians were recently sentenced to two years in prison for performing an anti-Putin protest song in Moscow's main Cathedral. Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, Iranian lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and award-winning Iranian film director Jafar Panahi are the other finalists. The winner will be chosen by the European Parliament in December.

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Pussy Riot

Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist punk-rock collective that stages politically provocative impromptu performances in Moscow, on subjects such as the status of women in Russia, and most recently against the election campaign of Prime Minister Putin for president of Russia. Explore this topic

Sakharov Prize

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament as a means to honour individuals or organisations who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights an... Explore this topic

Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a Russian politician who has been the President of Russia since 7 May 2012. Putin previously served as President from 2000 to 2008, and as Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012. Putin was also previously the Chai... Explore this topic

Moscow

Moscow is the capital city and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural and scientific center in Russia and in Europe. According to Forbes 2011, Moscow has the largest community of billionaires in the world. Moscow is the n... Explore this topic

Russia

Russia or, also officially known as the Russian Federation, is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania an... Explore this topic

Jafar Panahi

Jafar Panahi is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and film editor, commonly identified with the Iranian New Wave film movement. After several years of making short films and working as an assistant director for fellow Iranian film-maker Abbas Kiarostami, Panahi achieved ... Explore this topic

Nasrin Sotoudeh

Nasrin Sotoudeh is a prominent human rights lawyer in Iran. She has represented imprisoned Iranian opposition activists and politicians following the disputed June 2009 Iranian presidential elections as well as prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were m... Explore this topic

Ales Bialiatski

Ales Bialiatski (Belarusian: Алесь Бяляцкі, sometimes transliterated as Ales Bialacki, Ales Byalyatski and Alex Belyatsky) is a Belarusian political activist known for his work with Viasna Human Rights Centre, of which he is currently the head. He is the vice president of the ... Explore this topic

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union. Together with the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful l... Explore this topic

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock. Punk b... Explore this topic

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Pussy Riot

Sakharov Prize

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