Vladimir Kara-Murza is a Russian democracy activist, politician, author, and filmmaker. Twice, in 2015 and 2017, Kara-Murza was poisoned with an unknown substance and left in a coma; the attempts on his life were widely viewed as politically motivated.

He is a vice president of the Free Russia Foundation and a senior fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. He was a longtime colleague of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and chairs the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom. Kara-Murza is a former deputy leader of the People’s Freedom Party and was a candidate for the Russian State Duma. He holds an M.A. (Cantab.) in History from Cambridge. He is married, with three children.

CEPA is proud to present Vladimir Kara-Murza with the 2024 Freedom Fighter Award to honor his lifelong advocacy for democratic values and exemplary commitment to developing an open, just, and prosperous future for the Russian people.