30/09/2024 Session | President
“Dear Vladimir, let me once again express my utmost relief to see you free, and all the more determined to continue with your fight for the free and democratic Russia which we all long for, and which poses no threat to its neighbours nor to its own citizens”, PACE President said today at the opening of the Autumn plenary session in Strasbourg, in the presence of Vladimir Kara-Murza, Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize winner two years ago.
“Our Assembly has been among the loudest voices calling for your release from illegal detention, and I believe that we have thereby contributed to the international visibility and pressure which have led to your safe release. I am very happy that earlier this month you could celebrate your birthday with your family in Paris and not in a prison cell in Omsk, and we are delighted to greet you here in Strasbourg today”, Theodoros Rousopoulos said.
“I know that you, like us all, are thinking today of all others who have suffered imprisonment and even died in voicing their opposition to this brutal dictatorship and its allies. The 2021 Vaclav Havel Prize winner Maria Kalesnikava is, as we speak, still in the hands of a totalitarian dictator, and we hear very worrying reports about her situation and physical conditions. We must not rest until Maria and all other political prisoners in Russia and Belarus are freed. We will do whatever we can to achieve this objective”, the PACE President added.