THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ASSIGNS THE SAKHAROV PRIZE TO THE MOST FAMOUS CHINESE DISSIDENT WEI JINGSHENG

Strasbourg, 24 October 1996. After the proposition by the European Radical Alliance and the Liberal-Democrat and Reformers groups, the European Parliament has assigned the Sakharov Prize to Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng.

Declaration by Olivier DUPUIS, General Secretary of the Transnational Radical Party and MEP:

"This attribution to Wei Jingsheng, symbol of the struggle for democracy in China and of the dialogue with the Tibetans, is an important victory for all those who, all over the world, involve themselves for democracy in China and freedom for Tibet.

Who better than Wei - author of the famous essay "Democracy, the fifth modernization" (in response to the four proposed by Deng Xiaoping), author of a letter in which he asks Deng to start negotiating on Tibet with the Dalai Lama - can symbolize the fight for democracy in China and Freedom for Tibet?

The Sakharov Prize to Wei Jingsheng is also a big victory for the European Parliament, who has demonstrated its capacity of passing through political pressure and, most of all, its capacity of recognizing the importance of Wei's role in the struggle for a future made of democracy for 1.200.000.000 Chinese a future made of freedom for 6 million Tibetans a future made of peace for everybody.

It is also a great day for the Transnational Radical Party, who has fought together with the friends of the "Federation for Democracy in China" for Wei as Nobel Peace Prize candidate in 1996, and who has restarted the campaign in order to candidate Wei for 1997 again.

We hope that the choice made by the European Parliament, that is also the expression of the determined will of many European citizens, will be understood by the Beijing authorities as a sign of friendship with the Chinese people, so that they will allow Wei to receive the Prize in person in Strasbourg.

TRANSNATIONAL RADICAL PARTY

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email: trans.rad.ny@agora.stm.it