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Russian Human Rights Defender Lyudmila Alexeyeva in Tallinn Today

Lyudmila Alexeyeva, the legendary Russian human rights activist, former Soviet dissident and laureate of the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Though will hold a public lecture in Tallinn today. The debate „Russian Voices“, organized by the Open Estonia Foundation (OEF), will focus on the situation of human rights and recent political developments in Russia. During her 3-day stay, Alexeyeva will also meet the Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves, members of Parliament and former Soviet Estonian dissidents.

Mall Hellam, OEF's Executive Director, said the foundation invited Alexeyeva to Tallinn to learn more about Estonia's biggest neighbor. „The Russian mass media outlets often leave a false impression that human rights and democracy are well respected. Yet, a number of people claim that Kremlin not only ignores but also violates people's rights and liberties on a daily bases,“ she said. Hellam added that the aim of the „Russian Voices“ discussion series is to amplify the voice of those who dare to think differently but are invisible in the Russian media.

Lyudmila Alexeyeva is a recognized historian and a founder of the Soviet dissident movement. In the 1960s-70s she worked clandestinely as a typist for the first underground bulletin “The Chronicle of Current Events” devoted to human rights violations in the USSR. In 1976 she became a founding member of the Moscow Helsinki Group created to promote human rights in Russia. Later in forced emigration in the United States she published the first comprehensive monograph on the history of the Soviet dissident movement. Having turned back to Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, she closely follows the political situation in Russia and actively participates in demonstrations demanding democracy and human rights from the authorities.

Alexeyeva's public lecture will be held today at 2 p.m in the Radisson Blu coference center in Tallinn. The lecture will be followed by a debate with the director of the Baltic Centre for Russian Studies, Vladimir Juškin, and the director of Open Estonia Foundation, Mall Hellam.

The „Russian Voices“ discussion series is dedicated to the Open Estonia Foundation's 20th anniversary and will bring many more speakers from Russia in Estonia this year, including the respected human rights advocates Valeria Novodvorskaya and Vladimir Orlov.

Additional information:

Mall Hellam
Open Estonia Foundation
Tel. +372 50 18 727

Media inquiries:

Maarja Toots
Open Estonia Foundation
Tel. +372 57 40 39 32