Global Young Professionals (ages 21-40) exclusive reception will take place before the program.

6:30 – 7:00 PM Networking & Registration

7:00 – 8:00 PM Program

ABOUT THE EVENT:

Though it was a course she had not chosen, Evgenia Kara-Murza is a longtime and courageous advocate for human rights in Russia. Many first noted her actions, when her husband Vladimir was poisoned twice with presumed nerve agents in 2015 and 2017. With both incidents, she came to the aid of her husband, who nearly died each time and spent weeks in a coma – with evidence pointing to the involvement of the FSB, Russia’s primary intelligence agency and successor of the feared KGB.

Last February, only a number of days before Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, prominent opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza came to Houston and spoke with the World Affairs Council. Just a few weeks later, Vladimir returned to Moscow and joined in the protests against Putin’s war on Ukraine. This past April, Vladimir was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his open criticism of the war – the longest sentence given to those who have spoken out against the war.

Despite emerging into a role she had never pursued, Evgenia Kara-Murza has become a determined and unyielding advocate for her imprisoned husband, and also for all Russians who live in fear of Putin’s regime and the alarming erosion of human rights in Russia, as highlighted by Vladimir’s words at his sentencing in April:

“For a person who has not committed any crimes, acquittal would be the only fair verdict … But I do not ask this court for anything. I know the verdict. I knew it a year ago when I saw people in black uniforms and black masks running after my car in the rearview mirror. Such is the price for speaking up in Russia today.”

Please Note –

The program will open with a 50 minute screening of Vladimir Kara-Murza’s documentary ‘My Duty to Not Stay Silent’, which will be followed by a discussion and audience Q&A with Evgenia about the state of human rights in Russia and the politically motivated imprisonment and 25 year sentence of her husband.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Evgenia Kara-Murza: Russian Human Rights Activist & Wife of Jailed Kremlin Critic

Evgenia Kara-Murza is a Russian human rights activist and wife of political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza, twice-poisoned Russian opposition leader, imprisoned since 11 April 2022 for protesting the war on Ukraine

Born in Russia’s Far East, Evgenia graduated with honors from the Moscow State Linguistic University. She worked as a translator and interpreter in Russian, English, and French for pro-democracy NGOs including the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, the Institute of Modern Russia, and Pen America.

She subsequently joined her husband Vladimir at the Free Russia Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan international organization supporting civil society and democratic development in Russia. Advocating for human rights accountability and promoting civil society and democratic change in Russia, she serves as the foundation’s Advocacy Director.

Evgenia currently lives in exile with her son and two daughters. Alongside her work for Free Russia, she travels across the globe advocating for her husband’s release.

**RICE CINEMA LOCATION & PARKING**:

Rice University – Sewell Hall – Room 301
6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005

Please enter the campus using Entrance #1 at the corner of Main Street & Sunset Blvd. Drive to the end of the entrance and Turn Left and park in the Founders Court Visitor Parking Lot – which costs $5. Sewell Hall and the ‘Welcome Center’ is across the street from the parking lot.

Here is a link to the parking lot on Google Maps.