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About the Event
“SetThemFree: Day of Political Prisoners,” a virtual event dedicated to recognizing those who have been unjustly imprisoned and mobilizing the collective global voice to advocate for the release of political prisoners around the world.
Today, there are over one million political prisoners worldwide. This number is only growing as authoritarian leaders are increasingly arresting and detaining activists and other voices of dissent to suppress opposition.
This event served as an opportunity to celebrate recently released political prisoners. Featured speakers included Vladimir Kara-Murza of Russia and Hisham Kassem of Egypt, who spoke about the impact of global solidarity in advocating for their release. Families of former and current political prisoners, including Evgenia Kara-Murza and José Carlos Zamora of Guatemala, also discussed how to elevate global advocacy efforts for the release of political prisoners.
This discussion was part of the World Movement for Democracy’s #SETTHEMFREE campaign, which has worked to build international solidarity with political prisoners, mobilize the global public to act, and advocate for their release.
This event was hosted by the World Movement for Democracy, the National Endowment for Democracy, and Freedom House.
About the Speakers
Vladimir Kara-Murza
Russian opposition Leader and Human Rights advocate
Evgenia Kara-Murza
Director of International Advocacy, Free Russia Foundation, and Spouse of Vladimir Kara-Murza
Hisham Kassem
Egyptian Democracy Advocate and Publisher
José Carlos Zamora
Son of Guatemalan Jailed Journalist José Rubén Zamora
Berta Valle, (moderator)
Co-Founder of Fundación Libertad, and Spouse of Former Political Prisoner Félix Maradiaga
Annie Boyajian, (moderator)
Vice President for Policy and Advocacy, Freedom House
Damon Wilson, (special remarks)
President and CEO, National Endowment for Democracy
Dafna Rand, (opening remarks)
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State