Jailed Russian Putin opponent wins human rights prize for bravery
- The opposition politician was awarded the Vaclav Havel Human Rights prize for what the Council of Europe calls his bravery in standing up to Russia’s leaders
- He holds British and Russian citizenship, was pallbearer at US Senator John McCain’s funeral and worked as close aide to late opposition leader Boris Nemtsov
The Council of Europe awarded detained Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza the Vaclav Havel Human Rights prize on Monday for what it called his bravery in standing up to Russia’s leaders.
Kara-Murza, who holds both British and Russian citizenship and was a pallbearer at the 2018 funeral of US Senator John McCain, worked as a close aide to opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead in central Moscow in 2015.
He is now in pre-trial detention on suspicion of spreading false information about the armed forces under new laws passed eight days after the February 24 invasion of Ukraine began.
“It takes incredible courage in today’s Russia to stand against the power in place”, Tiny Kox, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said in a statement. “Today, Kara-Murza is showing this courage, from his prison cell”.