Sakharov Prize to Ladies in White on Cuba

Press release from the European Parliament | 2005-10-25


Sakharov Prize to Ladies in White on Cuba

- It is fantastic good news that Damas de Blanco gets the Sakharov Prize. The publicity that this prize is bringing is unvaluable for theese brave, peaceful ladies supporting their inprisoned husbands. In their situation they need all the support from the outside world they can get. This again shows that the situation on Cuba is extremely serious and that the EU has to take action.

This was said by Cecilia Malmström (ALDE), member of European Parliament´s foreign affairs committee and liberal spokesperson on human rights, engaged in the situation on Cuba. The conference of Presidents in the European Parliament today decided that the Ladies in White on Cuba will receive the Sakharov Prize, together with two other candidates. Ladies in White is a group of women who stand up for the rights of Cuban political prisoners by protesting peacefully, every Sunday, dressed in white as a symbol of peace and the innocence of their husbands. The prize will be handed out at a formal ceremony in the chamber of the European Parliament in December this year.


The Sakharov Prize was instituted in 1988 and is handed out once a year by the Foreign affairs committee in the European Parliament to a person or an organisation which is defending democracy, human rights and the freedom of press. Former prizetakers have among others been Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Oslobodjene, Oswaldo Payas and the Belrusian organisation for journalists.