STRASBOURG: The European Parliament on Wednesday gave its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought the EU`s top human rights award to jailed Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.

The anti-corruption campaigner, who last year survived a poisoning attack he blames on the Kremlin, is Russian President Vladimir Putin`s best-known domestic opponent.

After returning to Russia in January from Germany, where he was treated for the attack, he was convicted on old embezzlement charges and is now imprisoned in a penal colony outside Moscow, but continues to needle Putin.

His winning the Sakharov Prize, backed by parliament`s main political groups, will further embitter ties between the EuropeUnion and Russia that have been at a low since the annexation of Crimea by Moscow in 2014.

Navalny `has shown great courage in his attempts to restore the freedom of choice to the Russian people,` said European Parliament vice president Heidi Hautala, announcing the prize.

`For many years he has fought for human rights and fundamental freedom in his country. This is costing his freedom and nearly his life,` she added in a plenary session in the French city of Strasbourg.

Navalny, 45, was nominated but passed over for this year`s Nobel Peace Prize.

His movement in Russia has been banned as `extremist` by the Kremlin and some of his allies have been forced to leave Russia under pressure from authorities.-AFP