Arab Spring Activists Win Freedom of Thought Award

Five Arab Spring activists have won this year’s prestigious Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought, awarded by the European Parliament. The winners included Egyptian political activist Asmaa Mahfouz, Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat, Syrian lawyer Razan Zeitouneh, Libyan dissident Ahmed al-Zubair Ahmed al-Sanusi, and Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian fruit seller widely credited with sparking the Arab Spring.

“This year’s winners symbolise the struggle for dignity, democracy and human rights and are co-authors of historical 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 their actions were “a symbol for all those working for dignity, democracy and fundamental rights in the Arab world and beyond”.