This year, the Palm Foundation honors two people who have defended freedom of expression at significant personal risk – and whose work has a direct impact in Germany. “There are many cases worldwide that would qualify for our award. However, it was important to us that this year’s award should also resonate with people here in Germany,” says Prof. Ulrich Palm, Chairman of the Foundation Council. A Russian writer and a Mauritanian lawyer – two very different life stories, yet united by a common message: freedom of expression must never be taken for granted.
Natalja Kljutscharjowa – A Bearing Witness Against War
Natalja Kljutscharjowa, born in 1981 in Perm, represents the courageous resistance of Russian intellectuals against Putin’s war of aggression in Ukraine – a war that has profoundly shaken Europe, including Germany. Her work reminds us that every war crime is also a crime against truth and freedom of expression.
The Russian writer and publicist studied at Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University and has been publishing poetry and prose since 2002. Her novels Endstation Russland (2010) and Dummendorf (2012) were published by Suhrkamp Verlag. On February 24, 2022 – the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – she began writing a diary. It quickly spread online in Russia and attracted widespread attention. “She took a clear stand from the very beginning,” says Palm. After being denounced and facing increasing danger, Kljutscharjowa fled to Germany in 2023 with her two daughters. Her diary was published the same year as Diary from the End of the World (Suhrkamp).
Now living in exile in Landshut, she continues her work. In contributions to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, she gives a voice to political prisoners in Russia – people sentenced to long prison terms for a photo, a conversation, or just a few words, and often prosecuted again while already imprisoned. “There are people in Russia who stand up against this system of injustice and resist,” Palm emphasizes. Kljutscharjowa is one of them.
Yahya Ekhou – A Voice for Secularism and Freedom of Thought
Yahya Ekhou represents those forced to flee their home countries for defending secular values and freedom of thought. His work in Germany – advocating against religious repression, the criminalization of apostasy and blasphemy, and for the protection of secular and ex-Muslim refugees – highlights that debates about political Islam are not abstract, but have direct relevance to everyday life in Germany.
Born in 1990, the Mauritanian author and jurist grew up in a Sunni Muslim tribal society in Mauritania. Initially destined to become a tribal leader, he was allowed to study in Egypt, where he experienced an intellectual awakening. “He had been taught that all non-Muslims were bad people. Then he encountered people who treated him kindly – even though they were not Muslims,” Palm explains. After returning to Mauritania, Ekhou founded the Network of Liberals in Mauritania and campaigned for secular reform and freedom of religion. He was persecuted, imprisoned, subjected to a fatwa, and stripped of his citizenship. In 2018, he fled to Germany.
Even here, he faced threats in refugee accommodations for openly stating that he no longer believed. “There are realities where people cannot speak freely, even though the law formally allows it,” says Palm. Today, Ekhou is Chairman of Secular Refugee Aid Germany and a founding member of the Working Group on Political Islam. As an author – most recently Voices from Silence (akono Verlag, 2025) – he makes the situation of secular refugees and the influence of political Islam visible. Palm summarizes:
“A free and democratic society must also respect the freedom not to believe. Our Basic Law stands above religious laws.”
Both awardees now live in Germany and contribute important perspectives to contemporary debates. With this award, the Palm Foundation recognizes their ongoing courage in defending freedom of expression as a universal value – even in the face of personal risk.
About the Palm Award
The Johann Philipp Palm Award for Freedom of Expression and Press Freedom is presented by the Palm Foundation in Schorndorf, Germany. It is named after the bookseller and publisher Johann Philipp Palm, who was executed on Napoleon’s orders in 1806. The award honors individuals who advocate for freedom of expression under difficult or dangerous conditions. Each of this year’s laureates receives €10,000. The award ceremony will take place on November 29, 2026, at the Barbara-Künkelin-Halle in Schorndorf.