Brussels: European lawmakers have nominated several candidates for the bloc's top human rights prize, including Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai and US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.
The European parliament said in a statement late on Monday they were among seven nominees for this year's Sakharov prize. The finalist for the prestigious 50,000 euro ($65,000) award will be chosen next month.
The 16-year-old Malala, who survived a Taliban assassination attempt last year on her way to home from school, was jointly nominated by three caucuses, making her the likely front-runner.
Snowden, who leaked a trove of documents on US surveillance agencies' spying programmes, was nominated by the Greens, a smaller pro-environment group.
The prize is considered the Europe's top rights award. Previous winners include Nobel Peace Prize laureates Aung San Suu Kyi and Nelson Mandela.
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