On Monday, October 11, the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize was awarded to Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza. The prize is an initiative by the Vaclav Havel Library, the Charta 77 Foundation and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, to reward outstanding civil society action in the defence of human rights in Europe and beyond. Kara-Murza, who is currently in prison awaiting trial for speaking out against Putin’s war in Ukraine, was praised for his courage and for his steadfastness in defending freedom and democracy in Russia, and also in protesting against Russian foreign policy and, in particular, Putin’s aggression against Ukraine. A protégé of Boris Nemtsov, Kara-Murza serves as vice-chairman of Open Russia, an NGO which promotes civil society and democracy in Russia.