Brussels, 11/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 10 October, three of the 2011 Sakharov Prize winners - Ali Farzat from Syria, Asma Mahfouz from Egypt and Ahmed al-Sanusi from Libya - called on the EU to take action for their countries.
Stressing that the slowness of the international community enables the Syrian regime to continue its actions, Farzat hammered home that children and civilians need to be protected by ensuring them protected areas without military intervention. He said that it is time to establish an agreement with the opposition in order to support the revolution, even if the revolution does not recognise this opposition. He also denounced Hezbollah, Iran and Russia aiding the regime and considers that Syria “is like a cake of which everyone wants a piece in the negotiations” - be it the United Sates or Russia. The Syrian revolution will not move backwards because the people want democracy, he added.
Al-Sanusi said that the West was a great help during the Libyan people's rebellion. “We want this aid to be continued to enable us to reach the objective of democracy and stability”, he said.
Mahfouz was for her part very harsh with the West. She denounced the Muslim Brotherhood's alliances with “enemies” such as the United States and Israel, naming the agreements on the region of Sinai. In her view, the United States “knows that if human rights are respected in Egypt, the people will move on to something else which would not necessarily serve the interests of Israel”. She said she was disappointed by the reaction the European response. “Europe is not able to make a choice. We can't count on its support”, she said. “The human rights violations are nothing in comparison with the democracy exported by Europe. It is a false democracy. I want to be able to collaborate with Europeans who wish us well”, she added. (CG/transl.fl)