Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-14-Speech-2-063"
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"en.20041214.6.2-063"2
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"Freedom is what society has the right to do and know and what the State does not have the right to hinder. In Belarus, however, it is hindered.
Within Belarus's dictatorial system, the result of elections not recognised by the international community, access to information not filtered by the authorities involves risk, and the Association of Journalists of Belarus and its one thousand members, being awarded this prize today, run that risk every day.
Having suffered various methods of traditional censorship, the Association manages, courageously, to broadcast its information via the Internet. But the authorities continue to pursue you and, nevertheless, you continue to try to keep the public aware of the right to freedom of expression and the need to exercise it.
The attacks suffered by your Association are attacks against fundamental human rights, which are enshrined in the Charter of Rights and in the draft European Constitution.
Madam President, I would like to inform you that we in the European Parliament have decided that our Delegation for Relations with Belarus will not maintain relations with the authorities of the regime, and will only maintain them and promote them with the NGOs and with civil society.
We are all saddened and frustrated to note that, 15 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, vestiges of that artificial division of Europe still remain.
We are frustrated to know that in Belarus the death penalty is still in force, and it is the only country in this continent which still applies it. The prize we are awarding today reminds us that there are borders within Europe which restrict the application of our values.
Finally, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to remind you that our Parliament usually stays in contact with previous winners of the Sakharov prize and that this month it will be 14 years since we awarded this prize to Aung San Suu Kyi, who is still under arrest in Myanmar, and whose immediate release we continue to demand.
We shall proceed to the formal sitting for the award of the Sakharov Prize to the Association of Journalists of Belarus.
Madam President, perhaps I should make it absolutely clear that, when you have returned to your country, we will continue to support you through all of our resources and we call on the Belarusian authorities to respect your rights and freedoms.
I would like to congratulate you on the work you are doing in Belarusian:
Mrs Litvina. You have the floor.
It is a great honour and pleasure for me to welcome the winners of the Sakharov Prize 2004, a prize which the European Parliament is awarding to the Association of Journalists of Belarus, headed by its President, Mrs Zhanna Litvina.
I would like to welcome you in your language:
Mrs Litvina.
I must inform Parliament that the representatives of the Association of Journalists of Belarus include Svetlana Zavadskaya, whose husband has been missing since July 2000. We wish to express our sympathy and solidarity with Mrs Zavadskaya and her family at this very difficult time.
This prize recognises a group of professionals who risk their lives on a daily basis to seek out the truth and communicate it to their citizens. In 2004, more than 50 journalists have been murdered throughout the world, together with 14 media assistants. Around 200 have been imprisoned and we should remember that two French journalists have been held in Iraq for more than 100 days now.
2004 has not been Belarus's best year. The pressure from the authorities on the independent media has increased considerably. The State has continued to silence critical voices, imposing fines, systematically suspending and closing newspapers, harassing journalists and taking criminal action against them."@en1
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"Award of the Sakharov Prize 2004"1
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