28/08/2024 (Agence Europe) – On Tuesday 27 August, the selection panel for the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, which rewards outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights, announced the shortlist for the 2024 Award. The shortlist includes Azerbaijani human rights defender, political activist and active member of civil society Akif Gurbanov, the co-founder of the Venezuelan voluntary civil organisation ‘Súmate’, which campaigns for civil and political freedom, rights and citizen participation María Corina Machado, and the leading feminist activist and human rights lawyer in Georgia Babutsa Pataraia. The winner is due to be announced at the opening of the autumn plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 30 September. (CG)