The Price of Conscience: Surviving Political Imprisonment
This panel brings together individuals who have paid a profound personal price for their beliefs or circumstances at the hands of authoritarian and unjust systems. Vladimir Kara-Murza, poisoned twice and imprisoned in Russia for his opposition activism; Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, held for nearly six years in Iran on fabricated charges; and Tawakkol Karman, the Yemeni journalist arrested for leading protests against her country's regime who went on to become the first Arab woman awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, will share their stories of survival, resilience, and what it takes to hold onto conscience and hope under extreme adversity.
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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Evgenia Kara-MurzaRussian Human Rights advocate, Democracy Campaigner and Public SpeakerEvgenia Kara-Murza
Russian Human Rights advocate, Democracy Campaigner and Public Speaker
Evgenia Kara-Murza is a Russian human rights advocate, democracy campaigner, and public speaker. She has graduated with honors from the Moscow State Linguistic University and has worked as a translator and interpreter for several nongovernmental organizations, including the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, PEN America, the Institute of Modern Russia. She has lectured at universities internationally, including Oxford and Harvard. After her husband, Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, was imprisoned for denouncing the war in Ukraine, Evgenia led a global advocacy campaign for his release and for the release of other Russian political prisoners. Vladimir was freed in August 2024 along with 15 others as part of the largest East-West prisoner exchange since the Cold War.
A passionate advocate in her own right, Evgenia Kara-Murza is engaged in a global campaign of solidarity with Russian anti-war and pro-democracy activists inside and outside the country and continues to speak out on behalf of political prisoners. She currently serves as President of the 30 October Foundation, a nonprofit organization she and her husband established to provide financial support to families of political prisoners in Russia. Evgenia is a recipient of several international awards, including the Democracy Service Medal from the National Endowment for Democracy, the Lantos Human Rights Prize, and the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Award from the International Republican Institute. Evgenia and Vladimir Kara-Murza have three children.