Leipzig, Apr. 4, (dpa/GNA) – This year’s Dresden Peace Prize is to be awarded posthumously to leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.

His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, will receive the award on May 12 at the eastern German city’s main theatre, the Staatsschauspiel, it announced on Thursday.

The organizers – the Dresden Peace Prize Initiative, the Staatsschauspiel Dresden and the Ecumenical Information Centre – plan to announce more information on Monday.

Navalny, a long-standing and staunch opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in a prison camp in the Arctic Circle in Siberia on February 16.

It has not been independently established whether the 47-year-old died naturally or was killed due to the conditions of his detention.

The Dresden Peace Prize is awarded to individuals who have rendered outstanding services to peace and international understanding.

Previous winners include former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, war photographer James Nachtwey and whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.

GNA