Brussels, 21/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas is the 2010 winner of the Sakarov Prize for freedom of thought, awarded each year by the European Parliament. He will be invited to attend the prize-awarding ceremony in Strasbourg on 15 December. “Guillermo Fariñas was willing to sacrifice and risk his own health and life to put pressure on in order to change things in Cuba”, said EP President Jerzy Buzek, announcing the name of the winner in Strasbourg on Thursday 21 October. Fariñas, aged 48, who is a doctor in psychology, an independent journalist and political activist, was nominated for the prize on behalf of all those who are fighting for human rights in Cuba, Buzek said. He has carried out 23 hunger strikes, the latest being on 8 July 2010 leading to the release of 52 political prisoners by La Havana.
In a first response, Guillermo Fariñas dedicated the award to the “Cuban people, for the prisoners … for our brothers who are in the streets, and the exiles”. “This prize shows that democratic and civilised governments in any part of the world, in this case the Europeans, keep their eyes on the situation of human rights in Cuba”, he told Reuters. With this prize, Europeans are calling on the government of Cuba to improve the human rights situation, he said. The exiled Cuban opposition has expressed the same sentiments.
The EPP and the ECR have published press releases hailing the choice of the conference of presidents, while the GUE/NGL spoke of “masquerade”, not to question Fariñas' personal merit but to denounce a “purely political vote” against the Cuban regime. “Democracy and human rights must be respected throughout the world. This is the third time in 22 years that the EP has awarded the prize to Cuban dissidents”, after 2002 and 2005, Marie-Christine Vergiat of France criticised. She requests that, in future, the choice of a winner should not be made behind closed doors by the conference of presidents but should be a “public vote in plenary session”. (H.B./transl.jl)