The twelfth Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, which honours “outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights” was awarded to Venezuelan political figure and rights defender María Corina Machado. The 60,000-euro prize was presented today at a special ceremony on the opening day of the autumn plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. Ms Machado is a co-founder and former leader of Venezuelan vote-monitoring and citizens’ rights group Súmate, a former member of Venezuela’s National Assembly and currently the National Co-ordinator of the Vente Venezuela political movement. Barred from running in Venezuela’s recent Presidential election, she went into hiding in August 2024, declaring that she feared for her life, her freedom, and that of her fellow citizens. Opening the award ceremony, the President of the Assembly, Theodoros Rousopoulos, pointed out that “today, 6 of the 11 previous winners of the Havel Prize are in prison”, and urged their immediate release. “These individuals committed only one ‘crime’ – they simply wanted to make their voices heard, to share their vision of a just and free society”.