Axel Springer has set up a new non-profit organisation to support activists, artists, and media professionals as well as projects from authoritarian countries that stand up for freedom, human rights and democracy. The Freedom Foundation continues the tradition established by the company’s founder, for whom freedom was the cornerstone of his personal and business conduct.
The Axel Springer Freedom Foundation supports the human rights defenders and their organizations, including through donations, actively publicizes their causes and facilitates networking contacts between them and decision-makers in the civil society, business, and political spheres. It is also responsible for the annual Award for Courage, which honours individuals for their courageous commitment to human rights.
The first winner in November last year was the Russian opposition politician, historian and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who for decades has been fighting for a democratic Russia, has survived poisoning attempts and was imprisoned in Russia after public criticism of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
The Foundation is headed by Antje Schippmann, most recently a member of the chief editorial department and Managing Editor at BILD, where prior to that she was responsible for foreign policy and human rights topics, and Katharina Neubert, Managing Director for Editorial Strategy at BILD. The Chairman of the Freedom Foundation is Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer SE.
In commenting on the launch, Schippmann said: “With the Axel Springer Freedom Foundation, we are continuing the tradition of our company founder, who passionately advocated for political prisoners and their families as well as dissidents and their causes. Defending freedom and democracy is not just an empty phrase for us, but the crucial question of our time, and an issue that has increasingly captured the public’s attention.”
“Far too often, the German attitude towards autocrats has been characterized by timidity and faintheartedness where courage and solidarity were needed. Together with our allies, we want to help freedom prevail – against the axis of unfreedom, from Moscow and Tehran to Beijing and Havana.”
Neubert added: “According to the Freedom House Index, eight out of ten people worldwide live in countries that are only partly free or not free. Courageous people who defend freedom on behalf of themselves and others are threatened, punished and sometimes even murdered. As a democrat, I see it as our responsibility to listen to them and to support them in their demand for a life of freedom and security for all people.”
The activities of the non-profit organization are supported by an advisory board of human rights defenders, including Rushan Abbas (founder of “Campaign for Uyghurs”), Iranian women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad, Samuel Chu (founder of the “Campaign for Hong Kong”), Afghan activist Roya Mahboob (Co-founder “Afghan Girls Robotics Team”), Rosa María Payá (founder of “Cuba Decide”) and Soviet dissident Natan Sharanski.
Further details here.