Zoya Feliksovna Svetova (; born March 17, 1959) is a Russian journalist and human rights defender, producer, author of the documentary novel ''Innocent Found Guilty ('').

Biography

In 1982 she graduated from the Maurice Thorez Moscow State Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages. In 2000–2002, she was an expert at the

Soros Foundation Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a sta ...

on programmes related to the development of law, the judiciary and the topic of human rights in Russia. In 2008–2016, she worked at the (PMC) of Moscow. In 2016, she was nominated to the

Mordovia The Republic of Mordovia (russian: Респу́блика Мордо́вия, r=Respublika Mordoviya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə mɐrˈdovʲɪjə; mdf, Мордовия Республиксь, ''Mordovija Respublikś''; myv, Мордовия Рес ...

n PMC, but was not included in its composition.

Work in the media

* 1991—1993 — magazine * 1993—2001 – columnist for the newspaper * 1994—1999 – assistant to the correspondent of the Moscow bureau

Radio France Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed with a wide variety of ...

* 1999—2001 – assistant correspondent of the Moscow bureau of the ''

Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...

'' newspaper * 2001—2003 – correspondent of the Man and Circumstances section of the ''

Novye Izvestia ''Novye Izvestia'' (russian: Новые Известия) is an daily newspaper, published in Moscow, Russia. History It was founded in 1997 by a group of journalists who left ''Izvestia'' newspaper, with the financial backing of Boris Berezovsk ...

'' newspaper * 2002—2004 – representative in Moscow of the

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

organisation * 2003—2004 – special correspondent of the policy department of the ''

Russkiy Kurier Russkiy Kurier (russian: Русский курьер, translated as ''Russian Courier'') was a Moscow-based daily newspaper. History It was founded in 2003 by Igor Golembiovsky, a journalist who had left ''Novye Izvestiya'' after being dismisse ...

'' daily newspaper * 2004—2005 – editor of the department of internal policy of ''Russkiy Kurier'' * since December 2009 – columnist for '' The New Times'' magazine She published articles in the newspapers ''

Kommersant ''Kommersant'' (russian: Коммерсантъ, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia ...

'', ''Russian Telegraph'', , ''

Novaya Gazeta ''Novaya Gazeta'' ( rus, Новая газета, t=New Gazette, p=ˈnovəjə ɡɐˈzʲetə) is an independent Russian newspaper known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs. It is published in Mo ...

'', ''

Moskovskiye Novosti ''Moskovskiye Novosti'' (russian: Московские новости, ''Moscow News'') was a Russian-language daily newspaper in Russia relaunched in 2011. The paper - by then a 'youth-oriented' free sheet handed out at more than 850 places aro ...

'',

Ogoniok ''Ogoniok'' ( rus, Огонёк, t=Spark, p=ɐɡɐˈnʲɵk, a=Ru-огонёк.ogg; pre-reform orthography: ''Огонекъ'') was one of the oldest weekly illustrated magazines in Russia. History and profile ''Ogoniok'' has issued since . I ...

, ''Itogi'', , as well as in French-language publications: ''

Ouest-France ''Ouest-France'' ( ; French for "West-France") is a daily French newspaper known for its emphasis on both local and national news. The paper is produced in 47 different editions covering events in different French départments within the régio ...

'', ''

France Soir ''France Soir'' ( en, France Evening) was a French newspaper that prospered in physical format during the 1950s and 1960s, reaching a circulation of 1.5 million in the 1950s. It declined rapidly under various owners and was relaunched as a popul ...

'', ''

La Dépêche du Midi ''La Dépêche'', formally ''La Dépêche du Midi'', is a regional daily newspaper published in Toulouse in Southwestern France with seventeen editions for different areas of the Midi-Pyrénées region. The main local editions are for Toulouse, ...

'', '' Le quotidien'' (

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

). She worked as a producer on the

France 2 France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews. Since 3:20 CET on 7 ...

TV channel.

Political position

In September 2014, she signed a statement from the ''December 12 Round Table'' demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. In November 2019, she signed a collective appeal in support of . In September 2020, she signed a letter in support of protest actions in Belarus.

Bibliography

2011 ''— Innocent Found Guilty'' () documentary novel.

Awards

* Laureate of the "Arbitrariness in the Law" journalism award in 2003 in the "Violation of individual rights nomination". * Laureate of the National Press Prize of the Union of Journalists of the Russian Federation and

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

for 2003 Human Rights and Strengthening Civil Society in Russia. * Diploma of the in 2003 and 2004. * Winner of the 2009 Gerd Bucerius Prize. * Winner of the

Moscow Helsinki Group The Moscow Helsinki Group (also known as the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, russian: link=no, Московская Хельсинкская группа) is today one of Russia's leading human rights organisations. It was originally set up in 1976 ...

Human Rights Prize in 2010. * Laureate of the publicistic prize Libmission 2018 in the nomination "For courage in upholding liberal values" for a series of publications on the portals MBH.media and

Radio Liberty Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

, dedicated to people who have been imprisoned. * ''Chevalier'' (Knight) of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

(2020).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Svetova, Zoya 1959 births 20th-century Russian journalists Russian human rights activists Women human rights activists Russian producers Russian writers Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Living people Free Media Awards winners