Two journalists, one imprisoned in Belarus and the other in Georgia, have won the European Union’s top human rights honor, the Sakharov Prize.

The announcement was made in Strasbourg on Wednesday by the European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

Andrzej Poczobut is a correspondent for the influential Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza.

He was convicted of “harming... national security” and sentenced to eight years, which he is serving in the Novopolotsk penal colony.

Mzia Amaghlobeli is a prominent journalist who founded two of Georgia’s independent media outlets.

She was convicted in August of slapping a police chief during an anti-government protest and was sentenced to two years in prison.

Her case was condemned by rights groups as an attempt to curb media freedom.

“Both are journalists currently in prison on trumped up charges simply for doing their work and for speaking out against injustice,” Metsola said.

"Their courage has made them symbols of the struggle for freedom and democracy," she added.

Attending the announcement was Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who along with her husband and others opposed to the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko won the prize in 2020.

She told the parliament that the choice of winner sent "a strong message" to political prisoners that they were "not alone" and that journalism was not a crime.

The annual EU award, named after Soviet dissident Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, was created in 1988.

It honours individuals or groups who defend human rights and basic freedoms.

The winner is chosen by senior EU lawmakers from among candidates nominated by the European Parliament’s various political groups.

Several Sakharov laureates, including Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month, picked up the Sakharov last year.

The award, which comes with a 50,000-euro ($58,000) endowment, will be presented in a ceremony at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, in December.