Kyiv, February 26, 2015. Nadiya Savchenko, military pilot and Ukrainian MP and PACE delegate, will be honored with the “Light of Justice” award. Ms. Savchenko is illegally held in a Russian prison since July 2014. Rev. Borys Gudziak, Bishop of the Ukrainian Eastern Rite Catholic Church and President of the Ukrainian Catholic University, has announced the news during the press-briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. “Nadiya Savchenko embodies moral and military endurance that can serve as a role model for everyone who fight for their freedom and dignity,” Rev. Gudziak said.
Borys Gudziak stressed that the Revolution of Dignity has occurred as a decisive move to build up a new kind of Ukraine without corruption and criminal opportunism. “Ms. Savchenko’s brave character has challenged the cynicism of our age. Her actions inspire us for solidarity and to be ready to make sacrifices on our pathway to break with unscrupulous Soviet past,” Borys Gudziak said.
The award ceremony is scheduled for April 22. Rev. Gudziak expressed his hopes that Nadiya Savchenko will be released and get the award in person. “Ms. Savchenko is awarded for her graceful deeds, and we all hope she will be with us for the years to come,” he emphasized. Borys Gudziak reiterated the message of Mustafa Dzhemilev, leader of the Crimean Tatar National Movement, and called Nadiya Savchenko to endure through all hardships.
Other honourees of the “Light of Justice” award include a Ukrainian writer and civic activist Yevhen Sverstyuk, Mustafa Dzhemilev, and a human rights activist Larysa Zalyvna. The award was established by Anastasia Shkilnyk in memory of her father Mykhaylo Shkilnyk. The latter was a renown lawyer and statesman during the national liberationist struggle in Ukraine in 1917-1920. Every honouree is awarded for distinguished moral principles and his or her struggle for the democratic ideals.
