Brussels  - Ingrid Betancourt, the Dalai Lama and Zimbabwe's opposition leader were among eight nominations Tuesday for the prestigious Sakharov Prize, a yearly award given by the European Parliament to defenders of democracy and human rights around the world.

Betancourt, a one-time Colombian presidential candidate with French citizenship who was released in July after being held hostage for six years by FARC rebels, was nominated by parliament's socialist grouping.

"Betancourt has constantly spoken out and stood up to the forces of terrorism and its devastating effects against ordinary, innocent people both in Colombia and around the world," her nomination read.

The spiritual and political leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, was chosen by the nationalist UEN group for his "message of peace, non- violence, inter-religious understanding, universal responsibility and compassion."

Other nominations include the European Roma Rights Centre, Chinese civil rights activist Hu Jia, Russian lawyer and democracy campaigner Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin and Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

The number of candidates will be narrowed down to a shortlist of three on September 22, with the winner due to be picked in mid- October.

This year's award marks the 20th anniversary of the Sakharov Prize, which was first awarded in 1988 in honour of the Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov.

Other past winners include Nelson Mandela and the UN. (dpa)