CPT and "Novaya Gazeta" receive Sakharov Award

The 2017 Andrei Sakharov Award was given today to the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper and the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), who were represented by Elena Milashina and Olga Sadovskaya, respectively.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the "Novaya Gazeta" and the CPT were awarded the Sakharov Freedom Award for the efforts of journalists and rights defenders to combat torture.

The awarding ceremony of the 2017 Andrei Sakharov Award was held today in Oslo within the celebration of the 40^th anniversary of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The ceremony was attended by the Foreign Minister and the President of the Parliament of Norway.

Prior to receiving the Award, Elena Milashina told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that she "directly associates the awarding with the topics that the 'Novaya Gazeta' has risen this year about Chechnya."

"I believe that apart from the CPT and the 'Novaya Gazeta', another organization, the 'Russian LGBT Network', which saved more than 100 residents of Chechnya, has deserved this award. This year, it has become one of the most efficient organizations working in Northern Caucasus, and in Chechnya in particular," Ms Milashina has stated.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.