23/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - Tributes to dissident Oswaldo Paya, killed in a road accident. Upstream of the Foreign Affairs Council, the Swedish minister, Carl Bildt, on Monday 23 July paid tribute to the Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya, who was killed in a road accident the day before. “He was one of the leaders, if not the leader of democracy” in Cuba, the minister stressed, adding that his death is a “tragic loss” to the people of Cuba, but also to the whole world. Paya won the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize in 2002. For his part, President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz said that he was “saddened by the death” of Oswaldo Paya, describing it as a “loss to all who fight in favour of democracy and freedom”. “He leaves his ideas behind him”, he added. (CG/transl.fl)