Jailed Tajik human rights lawyer Buzurgmehr Yorov has received the Prague-based People in Need NGO's annual Homo Homini prize at a special ceremony in the Czech capital, according to Radio Liberty.
Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov and Simon Panek, the head of the People In Need, handed the prize to Yorov's brother Jamshed on March 5.
Panek called Buzurgmehr Yorov “a lawyer with an extremely strong sense of justice and truth, which led him to the decision to start defending people whose rights were abused, who were unfairly prosecuted, and those whose trials were fully controlled by the authorities who ordered the cases to be launched.”
After receiving his brother's award, Jamshed Yorov expressed gratitude to the People In Need organization and read out a statement from his brother, who stressed that the award gave him and his compatriots hope that the ideas of "human rights and the rule of law" had not been forgotten.
Buzurgmehr Yorov was sentenced in October 2016 on charges of issuing public calls for the overthrow of the government and inciting social unrest. His 23-year prison term was later extended by five years after he was found guilty of contempt of court and insulting a government official.
Last year, his prison term was cut by six years as part of a mass amnesty.
Buzurgmehr Yorov has denied any wrongdoing, saying his trial was politically motivated.
Western governments and human rights organizations have urged the Tajik government to release Yorov, who last year was awarded the Faiziniso Vohidova Human Rights Prize by the Association of Central Asian Migrants in Europe.
The Homo Homini Award is given annually by the Czech human rights organization People in Need to “an individual in recognition of a dedication to the promotion of human rights, democracy and non-violent solutions to political conflicts.” The award is presented at the One World Film Festival, the world's largest human rights film festival.
