NED honors Russian democratic leaders

WASHINGTON, June 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. National Endowment for Democracy said Thursday its annual award for promoting democracy would go to four Russian non-governmental activists.

"More than a decade after the fall of communism in the Soviet Union, Russia is at a crossroads," NED President Carl Gershman said. "Either it can move forward toward democracy, economic prosperity, and the rule of law; or it can move backward toward state domination of society and the economy, restrictions on basic freedoms, corruption and autocracy."

The groups being honored, he continued, are "in the vanguard of those working to make sure that democracy and freedom are Russia's future and they deserve our utmost support."

The NED's 2004 Democracy Award winners are:

-- Ludmilla Alekseeva, a founder of the Moscow Helsinki Group that has emerged as Russia's leading human rights organization;

-- Arseny Roginsky, chairman of the International Memorial Society that protects refugees and victims of political persecution;

-- Aleksei Simonov, the president of the Glasnost Defense Foundation that defends freedom of the press; and

-- Mara Polyakova, the director of the Independent Council for Legal Expertise, which review legislation affecting basic rights and provides legal assistance in defense of these rights.