Russian Human Rights Defender Detained on New Years Eve

On the front page of the New York Times today is an article featuring Lyudmila M. Alexeyeva, a prominent human rights activist in Russia.

Human Rights First awarded Lyudmila our human rights award in 2005 – read her speech from the ceremony. She also participated in our 100 Days Event – assessing the Obama Administration’s progress on human rights at that crossroads.

She is also featured in our report on dissidents in Russia – on one of her prosecutions:

Yuri Samodurov and Ludmila Vasilovskaya, the director and curator of the
Sakharov Museum and Public Center, were both convicted of inciting ethnic and
religious hatred under Article 282 on March 29, 2005. The provocative exhibit
“Caution/Religion” aimed to examine religion in modern Russia. One of the works
was the face of Jesus imposed on a Coca-Cola logo next to the words “This is my
blood.” The exhibition provoked vandalism from alleged members of the Movement for the Russian Renewal of the Fatherland and the exhibition was forced to close after being open for only four days.