The PGA Defender of Democracy Awards honor individuals who have demonstrated exceptional commitment and contribution to promoting peace, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, non-discrimination and/or gender equality.
Their actions should support PGA’s vision, namely “to contribute to the creation of a rules-based international order for a more equitable, safe and democratic world.”
2018 DDA Recipients:
Mr. Ahmed Mahloof, MP (Maldives) and Mr. Oleg Sentsov (Ukraine)
As a leading member of PGA in the Maldives, Mr. Malhoof played a decisive role in the process that led Maldives to accede to the Rome Statute of the ICC, becoming the 118th State Party. PGA has recognized his role in previous public statements. Ahmed Mahloof, MP, was one of the most appreciated panelists at the PGA Annual Forum in 2017 in Milan where he spoke about the shrinking democratic space for parliamentarians all over the world.
I share this Award with my courageous wife @Nazunaseem & Elly. With my Parents, Maldivians who lost their lives during the struggle, those who spent days,weeks,months & years in jail. And with every Maldivian who fought to defend Democracy, Human Rights & Rule of Law in Maldives. pic.twitter.com/V8pzNYUC4q
— Ahmed Mahloof (@AhmedMahloof) November 16, 2018
Since 2010, PGA Member Mr. Ahmed Mahloof, MP has been arrested more than 25 times for peaceful protests and remanded for months. He continues to be a strong advocate for Democracy and the Rule of Law despite intimidation. On 25th June 2016, he was jailed for 11 months for two different cases of protesting. In May 2017, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that he was detained arbitrarily and that he should be released immediately and compensated.
In September 2017, Ahmed Mahloof was again accused of assaulting military officers during a parliament sitting inside the Parliament chamber and with a court warrant he was banned from traveling for two months. Later the Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant, but he was able to fly to Colombo before the arrest and spent five months in exile. Immediately following his departure, the police publicly announced a travel ban on him for two months with a court order.
MP Mahloof returned to Maldives on 31 January 2018. Since then he has been arrested four times and summoned to police seven times for investigation on six different charges. On 22nd February 2018, following the government’s decision to impose a state of emergency, he was arrested while peacefully participating in a lawful gathering inside the Maldivian Democratic Party’s activity center. While detained, the state issued four different charges against him:
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Charged with terrorism, just for participating in a small peaceful protest outside Maafushi Prison
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Disruption of police duty, for distributing masks to protesters to cover their eyes from pepper spray
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2 charges for 2 different tweets regarding Police and Maldives Correctional Service.
After seven months of detention, charges against MP Mahloof were dropped in September 2018.
Happy to honor @AhmedMahloof as recipients of the 2018 Defender of Democracy Award of @PGAction. Ahmed fought for #peace, #democracy and #Ruleoflaw at the #Maldives and managed together with many others to cause a political change. pic.twitter.com/CFLdhJjp5p
— Petra Bayr (@BayrPetra) November 16, 2018
Oleg Sentsov is a Ukrainian film director. On 10 May 2014, he was arrested in Crimea and sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of plotting terrorist acts against Russian ‘de facto’ rule in Crimea. Amnesty International described the court process as ‘an unfair trial before a military court’. In May 2018, Mr. Sentsov went on a hunger strike.
On 14 June, 2018, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Russia, notably referring to the case of Oleg Sentsov, considered to be a Ukrainian political prisoner, and demanding that the Russian authorities immediately and unconditionally release him and all other illegally-detained Ukrainian citizens in Russia and on the Crimean peninsula.
Mr. Sentsov was sentenced because he opposed the illegal and forced annexation of part of his country by its belligerent neighbor, Russia, which was a blatant violation of international law and Russian international and bilateral commitments. His conviction has become a powerful symbol of the fate of the approximately 70 Ukrainian citizens illegally arrested and sentenced to long prison terms by Russian occupation forces in the Crimean peninsula after its annexation.
Mr. Sentsov was awarded the European Parliament’s 2018 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought a few days after that the PGA Ukraine National Group and the PGA Board agreed to recognize him with the DDA 2018.
