Imprisoned Alexei Navalny receives EU’s top human rights prize

Alexei Navalny was the subject of a nerve agent attack and was immediately jailed on his return to his homeland after treatment in Germany (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, file)

Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was awarded the European Union’s top human rights prize on Wednesday in a clear swipe at President Vladimir Putin.

In awarding the Sakharov Prize to Navalny, the European Parliament praised his “immense personal bravery”. The 45-year-old activist was poisoned with a nerve agent last year and promptly arrested upon his return to Moscow from treatment in Germany and later imprisoned.