The Sakharov Prize 2011 is awarded to five representatives of the Arab people
The European Parliament Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought in 2011 has been granted to the Arab Spring, in particular to five representatives of the Arab people, in recognition and support of their drive for freedom and human rights. The decision to award the Prize to the Arab people is, according to Parliament's President, a symbol for all those working for dignity, democracy and fundamental rights in the Arab world and beyond.
The European Parliament has decided to grant the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought in 2011 to five representatives of the Arab people, in recognition and support of their drive for freedom and human rights. Jerzy Buzek, European Parliament's President, at Parliament's formal session on 14 December. This year, the other two shortlisted finalists were Belarusian civil activist and journalist Dzmitry Bandarenka and the Columbian San José de Apartadó Peace Community.
The five representatives of the Arab people awarded are: Mohamed Bouazizi is the young man who set fire to himself on 17 December 2010 in Sidi Bouzid (Tunisia). Asmaa Mahfouz is one of the founders of the Egyptian youth movement. Her call for freedom recorded on 18 January and posted on YouTube was seen by hundreds of thousands of people and inspired them to gather in Tahrir square. Ahmed al-Zubair Ahmed al-Sanusi, 77-year-old dissident and Libya's longest-serving "prisoner of conscience". He was accused of conspiracy in an attempted coup against Col Gaddafi in 1970 and spent 31 years in prison, four more than Nelson Mandela. Razan Zeitouneh is one of the leaders of the committees coordinating the revolt in Syria. Ali Farzat is a renowned Syrian political satirist, who has published more than 15,000 cartoons in Syrian, Arab and international newspapers.
The Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought, named in honour of the Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, is awarded by the European Parliament every year to individuals or organizations that have made an important contribution to the fight for human rights or democracy. The prize is accompanied by an award of €50,000.