Original Material
US Senator John McCain grants ‘2015 Freedom Award’ to Boris Nemtsov posthumously
The International Republican Institute (IRI) has granted slain Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov its 2015 Freedom Award.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, an opposition activist and old friend to Nemtsov, accepted IRI’s Freedom Award on Nemtsov's behalf at a ceremony on September 9. US Senator John McCain, chairman of IRI’s Board of Directors, also spoke at the ceremony.
“I am honored that Vladimir Kara-Murza will be joining us to accept IRI’s Freedom Award on behalf of my dear friend Boris Nemtsov,” said Senator McCain. “Vladimir, like Boris, has been a leading voice for freedom, human rights and the rule of law in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. His commitment to these causes has proven him a true patriot to his country.”
- IRI was founded in 1983. It supports center-right political organizations worldwide. Senator John McCain has headed IRI’s Board of Directors since 1993.
- Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and prominent critic of Vladimir Putin, was shot and killed on February 27 in the center of Moscow, not far from the Kremlin. Nemtsov was 55 years old. Police have arrested five individuals for Nemtsov’s murder—all men from the Russian North Caucasus.
- Vladimir Kara-Murza is a Russian opposition activist and ally of Boris Nemtsov. He is a leading member of RPR-Parnas, an opposition party co-founded by Boris Nemtsov.
- Kara-Murza has been a leading proponent of the Magnitsky Act, which was signed into law in the US in 2014, prohibiting those responsible for the death of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky from entering the US and accessing US financial institutions. As a part of its retaliation for this act, the Kremlin has banned McCain and several other US citizens from entering Russia.