Agence Europe, 5&6 October 1998

(EU) EP/SAKHAROV AWARD

05/10/1998 (Agence Europe) - Kosovar political leader Adem Demaci, winner of the EP's Sakharov award in 1991, has written to MEPs to express his backing for Kosovar Ushkin Hoti, nominated by the Radical Alliance, for the 1998 award. Professor Hoti, who has been imprisoned for four years for his political views, has "spent his life fighting for a fair peace, which Kosovo needs now more than ever", states Mr Demaci. And Bujar Dugoli states, on behalf of the Student Union of the University of Pristina, that he is proud of the nomination of one of the university's professors. Prof. Hoti, he notes, is one of the few professors who publicly defended students in 1991 and he has become a "living legend".