Human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, who was sentenced to four years in prison by Chinese authorities for “inciting subversion of state power,” was awarded the 2021 Martin Ennals Human Rights Prize on Thursday.
According to AFP, the Martin Ennals Human Rights Award was given to Yu for his extraordinary courage in fighting for human rights. Philippe Currat, president of the Martin Ennals Human Rights Prize Foundation, said that the prize recognizes the outstanding contribution of Mr. Yu to human rights work and hopes that the award will “help him regain his lost freedom. “The award recognizes Wensheng Yu’s outstanding contribution to human rights work.
Yu, 54, was detained for three years for speaking out against the “709” crackdown on human rights defenders and advocating for constitutional reform. “He was sentenced to four years in prison and three years of deprivation of political rights.
The Martin Ennals Award, named after the first secretary-general of Amnesty International, is known as the “Nobel Prize for Human Rights. Xinjiang Uighur scholar and former Central University for Nationalities associate professor Yiliham Tohti was also awarded the Martin Enners Human Rights Prize in 2016.
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