Forum 2000 Award winner Zhang Zhan is due to be released from prison on May 13
In 2022, the Chinese citizen journalist and former lawyer Zhang Zhan won the second Forum 2000 International Award for Courage and Responsibility. Shortly after the COVID-19 outbreak in February 2020, Zhang Zhan travelled to Wuhan, in order to report on the impact of the lockdown measures imposed on the city. Through her coverage, she questioned the handling of the crisis by the authorities. For that she was detained later in May 2020, tortured, and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Zhang Zhan is due to be released from prison on May 13, 2024, when she will have completed her four-year sentence.
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New Perspective in Senegal
After the vote in Senegal was postponed for nearly a month, the Senegalese successfully elected their new president in a free and fair process. On March 8 the members of Forum 2000 Foundation´s Democratic Solidarity Africa (DSA) expressed their solidarity with the people of Senegal. What is the opinion of Forum 2000 community members Penda Mbow, Aisha Dabo, and Jeffrey Smith?
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Forum 2000 Award winner Vladimir Kara-Murza: A hostage of Putin´s regime
On the second anniversary of the detention of pro-democracy advocate Vladimir Kara-Murza, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), Free Russia Foundation (FRF), McCain Institute, and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights (RWCHR) filed a request to the US Department of State, calling for it to designate Kara-Murza as wrongfully detained and transfer his case to the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs.
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The electoral process for Venezuela’s presidency is riddled with irregularities
Last month the Forum 2000 Foundation and members of Democratic Solidarity signed a letter requesting the Venezuelan government to comply with the Barbados Agreement. The letter, sent to diplomatic delegations of the countries present at the signing of the agreement, calls for a fair electoral process to be guaranteed in the country and for María Corina Machado to be allowed to run as the legitimate opposition candidate. On Friday, April 19, the leaders of opposition political parties, including Maria Corina Machado, made a decision to choose Edmundo González Urrutia to be a joint candidate in the next presidential election. What do Democratic Solidarity Latin America (DSLA) members Christi Rangel Guerrero, David Aragort, and Pedro Urruchurtu think about the current situation in Venezuela?
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How can the EU help strengthen democracy and respect for human rights?
Can citizens of European countries be better involved in shaping the EU’s global role? What should be the EU’s role on the global stage? What are the EU’s key interests in the changing the world order? These and similar questions will be answered by candidates for the European Parliament during a public debate in the Václav Havel Library in Prague on May 13 organized by the Forum 2000 Foundation and DEMAS, an association of Czech NGOs focused on promoting democracy, human rights, civil society, rule of law and good governance abroad.
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