President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso and European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek expressed their condolences over a death of a human rights activist and the widow of the late Soviet dissident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, Yelena Bonner.
Bonner died on Saturday in Boston, the U.S., at the age of 88 after a grave illness, the radio station said, referring to human rights activist Pavel Litvinov and the Pyotr Grigorenko Fund.
“I want to pay tribute to the courage she showed in standing up for fundamental freedoms and human dignity that people worldwide demand,” Barroso said.
European Parliament President called Bonner one of the most inspiring and dedicated human rights activists.
“Along with her husband, scientist and human rights defender Andrei Sakharov, she gave hope to the people in desperate need for freedom and justice,” Buzek said.
Bonner’s daughter Tatiana Yankelevich said that her mother would be buried in Moscow.
“We announce with deep sorrow that our mother Yelena Georgiyevna Bonner died today, on June 18 at 13:55 (17:55 GMT). According to her will, her body will be cremated and the cinerary urn will be buried at the Vostryakovo cemetery in Moscow next to her husband, mother and brother,” Yankelevich said in a statement.
Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist and an advocate of civil liberties and reforms in the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975.