This year’s Council of Europe Vaclav Havel Prize goes to imprisoned Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Mursa. It “requires incredible courage in Russia today to oppose the ruling power,” the parliamentary assembly of the country’s organization Strasbourg justified Monday’s elections. Kara-Mursa was recently charged with “treason” in Russia.
The noted Kremlin critic and former journalist was a close confidant of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015, and is also close to Russian government critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Kara-Mursa states that because of his political commitment he was twice the victim of poison attacks. The 41-year-old is one of the few prominent opposition figures still living in Russia.
Prize went to Belarus last year
Created in 2013 and endowed with 60,000 euros, the Vaclav Havel Prize is named after the Czech ex-president and former dissident Vaclav Havel, who died in 2011. In 2021, the prize went to Belarusian opposition politician Maria Kolesnikova.
Source: Krone
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