Lyudmila Alexeyeva wins 2015 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize
September 28, 2015
Today, on Monday 28 September, 2015, Russian human rights defender Lyudmila Alexeyeva was ceremonially announced as laureate of the 2015 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The award is presented by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Václav Havel Library and the Charter 77 Foundation.
Lyudmila Alexeyeva is a veteran human rights defender in her native Russia. In her youth, she gave up a promising academic career to join the Soviet dissident movement, going on to become a founding member of the Moscow Helsinki Group. Forced to emigrate to the US in 1977, she returned to Russia in 1989 to continue her work, becoming President of the International Helsinki Foundation and later joining the Russian President’s Commission on Human Rights. She has worked relentlessly for the protection and promotion of the rule of law.
Václav Havel Human Rights Prize
The Václav Havel Human Rights Prize draws attention to extraordinary actions in the field of human rights in Europe and elsewhere. It is presented annually by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in partnership with the Václav Havel Library and the Charta 77 Foundation. It comes with a monetary award of EUR 60,000.
The Story of a Refugee
The Václav Havel Library has organised an international conference in honour of the laureate; The Story of a Refugee: The Europe of Dreams and Reality will take place at the Prague Crossroads on 30 September, 2015.
Related events
- The Story of a Refugee: Europe of Dreams and Reality 30/09/15 08:30 – 16:00