The European Parliament has awarded the 2009 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to the Moscow-based Memorial human rights group.
The embattled Memorial is led by activist Oleg Orlov. An activist with the group, Natalya Estemirova, was killed in the North Caucasus in July, and Orlov was sued for libel by Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov for accusing him of involvement in Estemirova's killing.
The Sakharov Prize was established in 1988, shortly before the death of Soviet physicist, rights activist, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov.
Read more about Memorial and the Sakharov Prize
here.