Sakharov Network

In 1991 Parliament awared its human rights prize to Adem demaçi, a kosovar born in Pristina in 1936, thereby honouring a man who had spent the greater part og his life (1958-1990) in prison for fighting for the fundamental rights of the Albanians in Kosovo by means of the written and spoken word.
But prison could not silence Demaçi: he continued to raise his voice to make know the bitter truth about the Serbian oppression of the two million Albanians in Kosovo.
'Freedom of speech [is] the first, crucial step towards democracy. Without freedom of speech there is no dialogue, without dialogue the truth cannot be established, and without the truth progress is impossible.'
After his release, Demaçi assumed the leadership of the Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms. From 1998 to 1999, during the Serb offensive, he was the political representative of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK). Since the war, he has devoted himself mainly to ethnic reconciliation and the return of refugees. he took on the chairmanship of the Committee for Mutual Understanding, Tolerance and Coexistence, representing all ethnic groups in Kosovo, 'because Kosovo belongs to everyone' and 'we want a free, democratic and multi-ethnic society'.