Benedicte Berner – Acting Chair, Civil Rights Defenders in Sweden
a life shaped by
seismic political events
witnessed first-hand
“The right to receive and impart information, to express views freely, to be able to demonstrate
publicly and share political opinions without reprisal is a basic human right,” says Benedicte Berner,
Acting Chair of the Civil Rights Defenders Board. “Having lived in countries without the right
of freedom of expression, I have felt how essential it is.”
In her teens, Benedicte visited the former Soviet
Union and saw how an oppressive, dictatorial system of government impacted the daily lives of its
own citizens. Later, she went on to live in Communist Poland where she became close to some of
the leaders of the Solidarity movement and helped
them at crucial moments. Another formative and
enriching experience was the three years spent in
India with its dynamic and democratic, but highly
unjust and unequal society.
Benedic