This prize is awarded for courage in promoting freedom of speech. The winner of Jan Karski Eagle Award 2015 was selected by the Judging Committee consisting of Leh Valensa, Alexander Kwaśniewski, Сardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, Professor Richard Pipes and Jan Karski family. It was for the first time that this prestigious Polish
award was given posthumously. Jan Karski, a diplomat and a member of the Polish Resistance movement during WWII who informed the world about the Holocaust, established Eagle Award in 2000 shortly before his death. In accordance with his wish it is awarded “to the Poles who with dignity take care of Poland” and to
foreign citizens who “support Poland not being native-born Poles”. The list of Jan Karski Eagle Award winners includes among others Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Leh Valensa, Adam Mihnik, Marek Edelman and Shimon Peres.
On 15 May 2015 in Warsaw, Boris Nemtsov’s eldest daughter Zhanna received Jan Karski Eagle Award on his behalf. Addressing the audience she said: "I will do my best to make sure that my father’s cause should be pursued by people who shared his views. I hope someday Russia will be free. He had given his life for it”.