The Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament’s political groups decided on Thursday 10 September to formally exclude Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the Sakharov Prize in 1990, from all activities of the Sakharov Prize community (see EUROPE 12554/17).
The exclusion represents a sanction by the Conference of Presidents of Aung San Suu Kyi’s inaction and acceptance of the ongoing crimes against the Rohingya community in Myanmar, Parliament said in a statement.
Asked why Aung San Suu Kyi had been excluded but her prize had not been withdrawn, a parliamentary source said that a given prize could not be withdrawn for actions carried out over time.
Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA, Finland), Parliament’s Vice-President responsible for democracy, human rights and the Sakharov community, strongly supported the Conference of Presidents’ decision. She said it is “a clear response to Aung San Suu Kyi’s lack of action, her aid and support for the persecution of the Rohingya in Burma, and her refusal to acknowledge the responsibility of her government for the crimes that continue to be committed against this community”. Aung San Suu Kyi “has not lived up to the values that the Sakharov Prize stands for”, she added in a statement. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)