The European Parliament on Thursday awarded 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, the parliament said on its website.
The winners will be awarded by President Jerzy Buzek at the parliament's formal session in Strasbourg, on December 14.
The prize will go to Asmaa Mahfouz (Egypt), Ahmed al-Zubair Ahmed al-Sanusi (Libya), Razan Zaitouneh (Syria), Ali Farzat (Syria) and posthumously to Mohamed Bouazizi (Tunisia).
Buzek underlined that these people “contributed to historic changes in the Arab world and this award reaffirms the parliament's solidarity and firm support for their struggle for freedom, democracy and the end of authoritarian regimes."
