I walked into the visitation room, took off my ushanka, and heard my lawyer say: “Congratulations on being awarded the Sakharov Prize.” My first automatic thought was: how symbolic—my favorite photo of Sakharov (Andrei Sakharov, the Soviet dissident) is the one where he’s wearing a black ushanka. Whenever people receive awards, they always say: “It is a great honor.” And that is true. But even more than that, I feel it is a great responsibility. The Sakharov Prize is awarded by the European Parliament to those who have “made an exceptional contribution to the struggle for human rights across the globe.” And I am only one of many who fight corruption, seeing it not only as a cause of poverty and the decay of states, but also as the main threat to human rights. “Money loves silence,” repeat without tiring those who throw people in prison around the world, torture them, and deprive them of the right to a fair trial and free elections. I am deeply grateful to the European Parliament for valuing our work so highly. We will keep doing our best. I would also like to express my special gratitude to the European Parliament groups EPP (European People’s Party) and Renew Europe for nominating me for this prize. And to all Members of the European Parliament, and to the European Parliament itself as an institution, I want to say—and I will dare to say this not only on my own behalf, but on behalf of many others as well—a huge thank you for the very existence of such a prize, and for the fact that it bears the name of my great compatriot. I dedicate this prize to anti-corruption fighters around the world in all their roles: from journalists to lawyers, from officials (yes, there are such people) and legislators to those who take to the streets to support this struggle. I want to wish them persistence and courage, even in those moments when things feel a little frightening.