The European Union has awarded its top human rights prize to Venezuelan opposition leaders Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.

The European Parliament announced the winners of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on Thursday, honouring Machado and Gonzalez for “representing the people of Venezuela fighting to restore freedom and democracy”.

Machado ran as the democratic opposition candidate in Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election but was disqualified by the government. Gonzalez, who had not run for office before, took her place.

“Edmundo and Maria have continued to fight for the free, fair, and peaceful transition of power and have fearlessly upheld those values that millions of Venezuelans and this parliament hold so dear: justice, democracy and the rule of law,” said parliament chief Roberta Metsola.

The National Electoral Council said incumbent Nicolas Maduro won re-election with 51 percent of the vote – his third win since he first took over as president in 2013 after the death of his mentor, former President Hugo Chavez.

But the opposition said the results were rigged, claiming Maduro had only won 30 percent of the vote and that Gonzalez was the real victor.

Protests erupted, demanding the release of election results by individual polling stations.

Maduro’s government responded with a brutal crackdown on opposition protesters and leaders, forcing many to take refuge in foreign embassies.

Gonzalez was in hiding for a month, seeking refuge at the Dutch embassy in the Venezuelan capital, followed by the Spanish embassy, and eventually fleeing to Spain in September.

On Thursday, Gonzalez hailed Europe’s “deep solidarity” with his country, writing on X that the prize “embodies the deep solidarity of the peoples of Europe with the Venezuelan people and their struggle to recover democracy”.

“The struggle has not finished. The regime persists in blocking political change, committing more and more human rights violations and crimes against humanity,” he added in his statement. “Democrats, within and outside Venezuela, must work together to have the Venezuelan people’s sovereign mandate respected.”

The EU award, named after Soviet dissident Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, was created in 1988 to honour individuals or groups who defend human rights and basic freedoms.

Last year, the parliament gave the prize to Iranian Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after arrest for breaching mandatory hijab rules, and the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran.