At the opening of the ceremony , following an introductory speech by Peggy Cabral Gomez , SI General Coordinator Chantal Kambiwa gave to the wife of Mikola Statkevich Marina ,the Award given to her husband who was unable to attend as he remains in jail.
Mikola Statkevich , an opposition leader n Belarus , from the SI member Belarusian Social Democratic Party and Presidential candidate at the 2010 elections , is a political prisoner since 2020 . His wife in a very moving way thanked the Socialist International for the Award and described the extremely dire and dangerous conditions of his life in jail.
