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Kremlin critic Yulia Navalnaya and the Russian Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), established by her late husband Alexei Navalny, received DW's 2024 Freedom of Speech Award at a ceremony in Berlin on Wednesday. Navalnaya told the audience that free speech had been her husband and his organization's “most important weapon“ during the last 13 years while trying to oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin. “During these years, Putin has destroyed elections. During these years, Putin has prohibited protests. During these years, Putin has suppressed independent media. And he has tried to silence anyone who said what he didn't like. But he failed. Yes, he killed my husband, Alexei Navalny. But he didn't silence him and his ideas,“ she said. DW's Director General Peter Limbourg and German Finance Minister Christian Lindner paid tribute to Navalnaya and her late husband, and the FBK's Ivan Zhdanov, a lawyer and longstanding friend and ally of Navalny's.
