A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
Peter Benenson was a British barrister, son of British army colonel, Harold Solomon, human rights activist and the founder of the human rights group Amnesty International (AI); a global movement of more than 10 million people, currently, and in over 150 countries and territories who campaign to end abuses on human rights and to secure the release of political prisoners.
Eric Baker was a British activist and one of the founders of the human rights group Amnesty International, and the second Secretary-General of the organization. He was also a founder of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
Yves Rocher is a French skin care, cosmetics and perfume company, founded in 1965 by French entrepreneur Yves Rocher in La Gacilly. The company is present with over 3,000 stores, about half of them franchised, in 88 countries on five continents and employs 13,500 personnel. The company's headquarters is located in Rennes, Brittany, France. It maintains a botanical garden, the Jardin botanique Yves Rocher de La Gacilly, which is open to the public without charge at its factory site in La Gacilly.
Ilya Valeryevich Yashin is a Russian opposition politician who led the PARNAS party from 2012 to 2016, and then its Moscow branch. He was also head of the Moscow municipal district of Krasnoselsky and former chairman of the Council of Deputies of the Krasnoselsky district from 2017 to 2021.
Sir Louis Jacques Blom-Cooper was an English author and lawyer specialising in public and administrative law.
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organisation says it has more than ten million members and supporters around the world. The stated mission of the organisation is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments." The organisation has played a notable role on human rights issues due to its frequent citation in media and by world leaders.
Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny was a Russian opposition leader, lawyer, anti-corruption activist, and political prisoner. He organised anti-government demonstrations and ran for office to advocate reforms against corruption in Russia and against President Vladimir Putin and his government. Navalny was founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). He was recognised by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, and was awarded the Sakharov Prize for his work on human rights.
"The Forgotten Prisoners" is an article by Peter Benenson published in The Observer on 28 May 1961. Citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights articles 18 and 19, it announced a campaign on "Appeal for Amnesty, 1961" and called for "common action". The article also launched the book Persecution 1961 and its stories of doctor Agostinho Neto, philosopher Constantin Noica, lawyer Antonio Amat and Ashton Jones and Patrick Duncan.
Sergei Stanislavovich Udaltsov is a Russian left-wing political activist. He is the unofficial leader of the Vanguard of Red Youth (AKM). In 2011 and 2012, he helped lead a series of protests against Vladimir Putin. In 2014 he was sentenced to 4¹⁄₂ years in a penal camp for organizing the May 2012 protest which ended in violence between the police and demonstrators.
Opposition to the government of President Vladimir Putin in Russia, commonly referred to as the Russian opposition, can be divided between the parliamentary opposition parties in the State Duma and the various non-systemic opposition organizations. While the former are largely viewed as being more or less loyal to the government and Putin, the latter oppose the government and are mostly unrepresented in government bodies. According to Russian NGO Levada Center, about 15% of the Russian population disapproved of Putin in the beginning of 2023.
Criticism of Amnesty International includes claims of selection bias, as well as ideology and foreign policy biases. Various governments criticized by Amnesty International have in turn criticized the organization, complaining about what they assert constituted one-sided reporting.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 2011 by Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. The FBK published investigations into alleged corruption by high-ranking Russian government officials. The organisation was funded by private donations.
The Russian opposition figure and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny announced his intention to run for President of Russia in the 2018 election on 13 December 2016. The primary themes of his campaign have been focusing on domestic issues, including combating corruption in Russia and improving the economy. Commentators noted that Navalny's campaign was unprecedented in modern Russia as politicians usually do not start campaigning until a few months before the election.
FKU Corrective Colony No. 2 of the UFSIN of Russia for Vladimir Oblast, also known simply as IK-2 Pokrov or Pokrov correctional colony, is a general regime corrective colony located on the outskirts of the town of Pokrov in Vladimir Oblast, Russia. It is known for its strict rules and harsh punishments.
Aaron Maté is a Canadian writer and journalist. He hosts the show Pushback with Aaron Maté on The Grayzone and, as of January 2022, he fills in as a host on the Useful Idiots podcast. Maté has worked as a reporter and producer for Democracy Now!, Vice, The Real News Network, and Al Jazeera, has contributed to The Nation, and has appeared several times on Fox News on Tucker Carlson Tonight.
Ivone Dias Lourenço was a Portuguese communist and an opponent of the Estado Novo regime in Portugal. She spent almost seven years as a political prisoner. A report of her imprisonment in a British newspaper led to her being indirectly connected with the foundation of the human rights organization Amnesty International.
Amnesty International Nepal was founded in Nepal in 1969 by Nutan Thapaliya as an affiliate of the global human rights movement Amnesty International. Two years later, AI Nepal received the status of a "section" at the International Council Meeting (ICM) of Amnesty International in 1971. Due to the difficult environment caused by the repressive Panchyat regime and other difficulties, AI Nepal was dissolved as a Section in 1982. However, the Amnesty movement survived and continued on in Nepal at the membership level. After the restoration of democracy in 1990, the AI movement gained further strength in Nepal, and a Coordinating Structure led by Mr Chitra Niraula was constituted by the International Secretariat. The AI movement in Nepal was again recognized as a Section of Amnesty International in 1993. Currently, AI Nepal has over seven thousand active members affiliated through its various local structures such as Groups and Youth Networks.
FKU Corrective Colony No. 6 of the UFSIN of Russia for Vladimir Oblast also known simply as IK-6 Melekhovo or Melekhovo correctional colony, is a strict regime corrective colony located on the outskirts of the town of Melekhovo in Vladimir Oblast, Russia. The abuse and torture of inmates has been reported.
