Arab Spring heroes awarded with Sakharov prize for freedom of thoughtOctober 27, 2011 - 18:44 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Five Arab Spring activists have won the European Parliament's Sakharov prize for freedom of thought. The laureates include Mohamed Bouazizi of Tunisia, whose death in January helped to kickstart the Arab Spring. He set himself alight last December in protest at his treatment by the authorities under the rule of deposed President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. The prize, named after Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, carries an award of 50,000 euros. Other laureates included Egypt's Asmaa Mahfouz, a founder of the 6 April youth movement; Libyan dissident Ahmed al-Zubair Ahmed al-Senussi; and two Syrians who are part of the current uprising in their country, lawyer Razan Zeitouneh and cartoonist Ali Farzat. Ms Mahfouz's online call to freedom, viewed by hundreds of thousands of people, helped inspire the protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square which led to the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. She was arrested on charges of defaming the military rulers who took power following Mr Mubarak's departure, but the charges were later dropped after protests. Mr Senussi spent 31 years in prison for opposing Muammar Gaddafi. Mr Zeitouneh is one of the leaders of the committees behind the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Mr Farzat is a renowned Syrian cartoonist who was badly beaten by security forces in August, in an assault which broke both his hands. The Sakharov prize has been awarded by the European Parliament since 1988 to individuals or organisations that have made a significant contribution to the struggle for human rights and democracy. Past winners include South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela, and former UN chief Kofi Annan, BBC reported. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |