Aleksei Kirillovich Simonov lives in Moscow and has been active in defending human rights, and especially freedom of expression, since the second half of the 1980s. He is president of the Glasnost Defence Foundation (since 1991), a member of the Moscow Helsinki Group (since 1998), and a member of the Presidential Council on Civil Society and Human Rights (since 2002). He is vice-president of the Russian PEN Centre (since 2009). He is chair of the jury for the Sakharov prize for Journalism and chair of the jury of the Stalker Film Festival. He is the author of four books, has directed 21 films and edited more than 70 books. He regularly contributes to the Russian and international press, including Izvestiya (Moscow) and Russkaya mysl (Paris). Aleksei Simonov regularly travels throughout Russia and to other countries as an advocate of freedom of expression