Arab Spring activists win EU’s rights prize

(October 28, 2011) Five Arab Spring activists won the European Union’s prestigious Sakharov rights prize on Thursday, starting with the Tunisian fruit seller whose self-immolation sparked the revolutions that toppled dictators. The European parliament decided to award the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Tunisian fruit seller, Mohamed Bouazizi, along with Egyptian blogger Asmaa Mahfouz, former Libyan prisoner Ahmed al-Zubair Ahmed al-Sanusi, and two Syrians struggling for change in their countries, lawyer Razan Zeitouneh and cartoonist Ali Farzat. "These individuals contributed to historic changes in the Arab world," said European parliament president Jerzy Buzek. "This award reaffirms parliament's solidarity and firm support for their struggle for freedom, democracy and the end of authoritarian regimes," he said, adding that it was "a symbol for all those working for dignity, democracy and fundamental rights in the Arab world and beyond". The European Union’s annual rights prize, named after late Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov and first awarded in 1988 intends to honour exceptional individuals who combat intolerance, fanaticism and oppression. Sakharov won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 and was the head of ‘Memorial’ in the late 1980s. The Arab Spring was also honoured with a Nobel Peace Prize this year through Yemeni pro-democracy activist Tawakkul Karman, who shared the award with two fellow women's rights champions, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and compatriot "peace warrior" Leymah Gbowee.