The Price of Conscience: Surviving Political Imprisonment
Around the world, people continue to be imprisoned for challenging power, defending fundamental freedoms, or speaking out for justice. What can we learn from those who have paid that price? This session brings together Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was imprisoned in Russia for speaking out against the war on Ukraine; Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman, the Yemeni journalist and human rights activist who was arrested for leading peaceful protests against the Saleh regime during the Arab Spring; Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian-British dual citizen who was detained in Iran for six years as part of a long-running dispute between Britain and Iran; and Gaby Magomola, who was imprisoned on Robben Island as a teenage political activist under apartheid and went on to a career in banking that took him from Citibank in New York to Chief Executive of African Bank, as he tells in his memoir Robben Island to Wall Street.
Moderated by Ashraf Garda, the panel will explore the human cost of political repression, the resilience required to resist it, and what role young people can play in defending democracy and human rights in an increasingly polarised and uncertain world.
Speakers
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Nazanin Zaghari-RatcliffeBritish-Iranian Author and Former HostageNazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
British-Iranian Author and Former Hostage
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a British-Iranian activist who was detained in Iran in April 2016 and was held hostage there for 6 years. She was released and returned back to the UK in March 2022. She is currently living in London with her daughter and husband, writing her book A Yard of Sky.
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Vladimir Kara-MurzaRussian Politician, Author, Historian, Documentary Filmmaker and Former Political PrisonerVladimir Kara-Murza
Russian Politician, Author, Historian, Documentary Filmmaker and Former Political Prisoner
Vladimir Kara-Murza is a Russian politician, author, historian, documentary filmmaker, and former political prisoner. A close colleague of the slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, he served as deputy leader of the People’s Freedom Party and was a candidate for the Russian Parliament. Leading diplomatic efforts on behalf of the opposition, Kara-Murza played a key role in the adoption of Magnitsky sanctions against top Russian officials by the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, and Australia. For this work he was twice poisoned and left in a coma; a joint media investigation by Bellingcat, The Insider, and Der Spiegel identified FSB officers behind the attacks. In April 2022, Kara-Murza was arrested in Moscow for publicly denouncing the invasion of Ukraine and war crimes committed by Russian forces.
Following a closed trial at the Moscow City Court, he was sentenced to 25 years for “high treason” and kept in solitary confinement at a maximum-security prison in Siberia. He was released in August 2024 as part of the largest East-West prisoner exchange since the Cold War negotiated by the U.S. and German governments. Kara-Murza is a contributing writer at The Washington Post, winning a Pulitzer Prize for his columns written from prison, and has directed three documentary films and authored or contributed to several books on Russian history and politics. He serves as vice-president at the Free Russia Foundation and holds senior roles at the McCain Institute, Human Rights First, and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. He has lectured at universities including Cambridge, Harvard, and Stanford. He is married, with three children.
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Tawakkol KarmanYemeni Journalist, Human Rights Activist and Nobel Peace Prize LaureateTawakkol Karman
Yemeni Journalist, Human Rights Activist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Tawakkol Karman, a Yemeni journalist and human rights activist, is the first Arab woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Known as the “Mother of the Revolution,” “The Iron Woman,” and “The Lady of the Arab Spring,” Karman led protests against Yemen’s regime, advocating democracy and freedom of speech. She founded Women Journalists Without Chains and the Peaceful Revolutionary Youth Council, facing imprisonment and persecution for her activism. She played a pivotal role in pressuring former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled from 1978 to 2012, to relinquish power.
Karman emerged as a leadership figure during the Arab Spring in 2011, advocating against tyranny in the Arab world, reconciliation between Shia and Sunni Muslims, countering terrorism, and dialogue between Islam and other religions.
Karman's influence is recognized globally. TIME Magazine listed her among the 17 Most Rebellious Women in History and featured her on the cover of its 100 Strong Women in the World issue as a 'Torchbearer of the Arab Spring.' Foreign Policy also named her one of the FP Top 100 Global Thinkers, while CNN, BBC, and Reporters Without Borders have recognized her among influential women.
Karman continues advocating for democracy, development, and freedom of expression worldwide. She was appointed by the former UN Secretary-General to the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
She serves on the boards of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), and the Facebook and Instagram International Oversight Board. Her Tawakkol Karman Foundation supports development through schools, poverty reduction, and health institutions in Yemen.
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Ashraf GardaFounder, Champion South AfricaAshraf Garda
Founder, Champion South Africa
Ashraf Garda is the Conversation Architect - he uses the art of story telling and asking the questions that matter to break down concepts and to build consequential impactful conversations
He is an authoritative talk show, a lengaging Programme Director and MC as well as an impactful keynote speaker and also a host on multiple digital platforms
It is a measure of Ashraf’s national stature that he was appointed to serve his country as the MC for the opening day of the BRICS Summit of both 2023 and 2018
Ashraf’s purpose is to champion people because “champion people build champion nations”. Understandable then that he is at the Centre of conversations to find and embrace South Africa’s national purpose. The Champion South Africa project of which he serves a Chief Champion Spotter is a movement for change with the end goal to inspire the building of South Africa into a champion Nation.
He is a member of the prestigious Council of Champions that forms part of the Centre for Social Justice chaired by Prof Thuli Madonsela , South Africa’s former Public Protector and he also serves on the judging panel for the annual Social Justice Champion Awards
In 2023 he was chosen by the Treeshake movement as one of their 27 Changemakers working towards a more United nation .
He is the host of The National Pulse on SAfm Radio in South Africa - a daily talk show between 3-6pm that connects him and his audience to the pulse of the nation.
His level of versatility is manifested in his newly launched company Local Global Productions, a business that provides solutions in the fields of public speaking, contact creation, content sponsorship, social media sponsorship, event management , podcasting media training as well as hosting of moderating masterclasses .
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Dr Gaby MagomolaChairman, Revolut South Africa; Author, From Robben Island to Wall StreetDr Gaby Magomola
Chairman, Revolut South Africa; Author, From Robben Island to Wall Street
Widely credited as South Africa's first Black senior banker and regarded as one of the fathers of Black Economic Empowerment, Dr Magomola's career spans more than four decades — from teenage political activist and Robben Island prisoner in the 1960s to trailblazing executive in financial services.
A few years after his release he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and completed an MBA in the United States. He has held senior executive and board positions at African Bank, where he served as CEO, Citibank in New York and South Africa, Barclays Bank, First National Bank, and as Executive Director of the Canadian stockbroking firm Brockhouse Cooper. He recently stepped down as Deputy Chairman of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and is Chairman of Revolut South Africa.
He credits much of the transformation of the past four decades to organised business lobbies — NAFCOC, FABCOS, which he chaired, and the Black Business Council, of which he was a founder member. He joined the Institute of Directors in 1987 and has chaired and served on the boards of numerous JSE-listed companies and multinationals.
He holds an honorary doctorate in Commerce and Economics from the University of Zululand, received the Chancellor's Robben Island Alumnus Award from UNISA in 2022, and is the author of the award-winning autobiography From Robben Island to Wall Street.