Sakharov Prize For Freedom of Thought goes to Pakistani girl

The world-famous 16-year-old Pakistani blogger Malala Yousafzai, who survived a Taliban attack, was awarded the Sakharov Prize For Freedom of Thought.

Fugitive American informant Edward Snowden, who was granted asylum in Russia, was also in the running. The award ceremony of the Sakharov will be held on November 20th.

Last week, Yousafzai was awarded the Anna Politkovskaya Prize.

Malala became widely known in the world for her education and women's rights activism in the Swat Valley, where the Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. In early 2009, at the age of 11-12, Yousafzai wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC detailing her life under Taliban rule, their attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls. Yousafzai rose in prominence, giving interviews in print and on television, and she was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by South African activist Desmond Tutu.

On 9 October 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen while returning home on a school bus. In the days immediately following the attack, she remained unconscious and in critical condition, but later her condition improved enough for her to be sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, United Kingdom for intensive rehabilitation.