Press release, 13 January 2015
Adam Michnik, Polish public figure, former dissident, one of the leaders of Solidarity, journalist, essayist, political analyst and editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, was awarded the Freedom Prize 2014 in the Hall of the Act of 11 March of the Seimas.
During the ceremony, Mr Michnik was awarded the Statuette of Liberty by Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, and the Freedom Prize Diploma by Irena Degutienė, Deputy Speaker and Chair of the Freedom Prize Commission.
Photo by Olga Posaškova, the Seimas Office
“It is symbolic that 24 years ago Adam Michnik was here in Vilnius, representing the Presidium of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland and Polish media, together with us, the nation, ready to shed blood in defence of its freedom at the decisive moments that January. He arrived in Lithuania in January 1991 as a member of the delegation of the Polish Civic Parliamentary Club, thus expressing unconditional support for the fight of Lithuanian citizens against the brutal Soviet aggression”, said Irena Degutienė.
“Lithuania and Poland, though in different ways, suffered under the Soviet dictatorship, and what we had in common was stronger than what divided us then. Old disputes and all our past is something that we have to remember and talk about openly. The past cannot be changed, but it can be reflected upon”, noted Adam Michnik, winner of the Freedom Prize 2014.
The Freedom Prize was established on 15 September 2011 in accordance with the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Freedom Prize. The Freedom Prize honours individuals and organisations for their achievements in and contribution to the defence of human rights, development of democracy, and promotion of international cooperation for the cause of self-determination and sovereignty of the nations in Eastern and Central Europe.
The Prize is awarded under a resolution of the Seimas until 23 December.
Taking account of the nominees proposed by national and municipal institutions, public organisations and associations, academia, communities and natural persons, the Freedom Prize Commission decided, on 13 November 2014, to propose that Seimas should award the Freedom Prize 2014 to Adam Michnik.
The Freedom Prize is awarded every year on the Day of the Defenders of Freedom—13 January. The first Freedom Prize, that of 2011, was awarded to Sergei Kovalev, a Russian fighter for freedom and democracy and defender of human rights. The Freedom Prize 2012 was awarded to Antanas Terleckas, a founder of the political organisation Lithuanian Freedom League, initiator of the Memorandum of 45 Baltic Nationals and political prisoner. The Freedom Prize 2013 was awarded to Archbishop Sigitas Tamkevičius SJ, a fighter for the freedom of Lithuania, human rights activist, active participant in the unarmed resistance in Lithuania, political prisoner, founder and editor of the underground publication Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, and member of the Catholic Committee for the Defence of the Rights of Believers.
Saulė Eglė Trembo, Public Relations Unit, Communications Department, Office of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6203, e-mail: [email protected]
