2024-10-24 10:34:00
Venezuelan opponents <a href="http://www.time.news/us-embassy-in-venezuela-salutes-opponents-for-appealing-against-impediments-to-elections/" title="US Embassy in Venezuela salutes opponents for appealing against impediments to elections”>María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia were the winners of the Sakharov Prize 2024 to freedom of conscience, granted by the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg.
The Award will be presented to the leader of the Venezuelan Democratic Forces and opposition candidate in the July presidential elections, who is in Spain.
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Conscience, named after Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, It is the EU’s most important human rights prize. The award ceremony for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Conscience will take place on 18 December in Strasbourg, during the plenary session of Parliament.
Created in 1988, the European Parliament
The prize is awarded every year to individuals or organizations, in recognition of their action in one of the following areas: the defense of human rights and fundamental rights, in particular freedom of expression, the protection of minority rights, respect for the law international law, the development of democracy and the defense of the rule of law.
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The President of Parliament, Roberta Metsola, announced the names of the winners of the 2024 edition of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Conscience in the Chamber on Thursday, following the meeting of the Conference of Presidents that took the decision.
Metsola said: “The 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Conscience is awarded to María Corina Machado and President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia for their courageous fight to restore freedom and democracy in Venezuela and for their pursuit of a transition of just, free and peaceful power. They courageously defended the values dear to millions of Venezuelans and the European Parliament: justice, democracy and the rule of law. Parliament stands alongside the Venezuelan people, María Corina Machado and President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia in their struggle. for the democratic future of their country. “This award is for them.”
Maria Corina Machado She was elected as the opposition candidate for the presidency of Venezuela on behalf of the “United Democratic Platform” in 2023, before being disqualified by the regime-controlled National Electoral Council.
Edmundo González Urrutia, diplomat and politicianwho succeeded her as candidate representing the “United Democratic Platform”, denounced the failure to publish the official results of the presidential elections and questioned the proclaimed victory of Nicolás Maduro. González Urrutia left the country in September after an arrest warrant was issued for him He went into exile in Spain.
Elections and fraud
In a resolution adopted on 19 September, MEPs highlighted that the reports of international election observation missions clearly indicated that the Venezuelan presidential elections had not met international standards of electoral integrity. They recognized Edmundo González Urrutia as the legitimate and democratically elected president of the country, and María Corina Machado as the leader of the democratic forces.
In the approved text Parliament condemns “electoral fraud” and the grave and systematic human rights violations perpetrated against the democratic opposition, the Venezuelan people and civil society.
According to the Venezuelan government, During the protests, 2,400 people were arrested After the elections, non-governmental organizations reported the deaths of 24 people. María Corina Machado remains hidden, hidden. Edmundo González Urrutia had to flee to Spain, which granted him political asylum on 7 September.
More sanctions
In its resolution of September 2024, Parliament called on the EU to extend sanctions against the Venezuelan regime and apply targeted sanctions, through the EU’s global human rights sanctions regime, against Nicolás Maduro and his inner circle.
Before the elections, Parliament had urged member states to maintain the sanctions imposed on Maduro’s regime and criticized the unconstitutional decision to prevent opposition politicians, such as María Corina Machado, from running in the 2024 elections.
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