Nelson Mandela And Leyla Zana

EDM number 1143 in 1995-96, proposed by Terry Rooney on 10/07/1996.

That this House welcomes the visit to Parliament by the President of the Republic of South Africa, Nelson Mandela; recalls that he spent many years in prison, suffering mental and physical torture before leading his people to freedom; recalls also that among the many honours and awards that have been bestowed upon him he was the recipient of the European Parliament's Sukharov Prize for freedom of thought; notes that Leyla Zana, formerly a member of the Turkish Parliament representing the the Democracy Party, was also a recipient of the Sukharov Prize; further notes that she has suffered imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Turkish regime and remains in prison; believes that freedom and democracy cannot be stiffled forever; and, on the day of Nelson Mandela's visit, calls for the release of Leyla Zana and the other imprisoned members of Parliament in Turkey and looks forward to the day when she leads the Kurdish people to freedom.

This motion has been signed by a total of 52 MPs.