Index on Censorship
[link removed]
Latest ([link removed]) Subscribe ([link removed]) About Index ([link removed]) Donate ([link removed])
Thursday, 21 November 2024
** THE 2024 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AWARD WINNERS
------------------------------------------------------------
Last night, Index on Censorship hosted the annual Freedom of Expression Awards in London, bringing together artists, activists, human rights defenders and journalists among others to announce this year's winners.
Divided into four categories: Arts, Campaigning, Journalism and Trustee, the annual awards are an opportunity to celebrate the courage and creativity of the journalists, artists, campaigners and dissidents who, against all odds and at times facing threats of persecution, harassment, imprisonment or death, speak out to defend human rights and democracy.
“It is easier to commit crimes in the silence, in the darkness and behind closed doors. This is why freedom of speech is always the first victim of autocracy. But free speech is not just some abstract notion. Behind it are countless stories of those who risked their freedom and very often their lives to defend their right to exercise it.” Evgenia Kara-Murza, Trustee Award winner.
Discover this year's winners:
[link removed]
ARTS CATEGORY WINNER:
Aleksandra Skochilenko
Russian anti-war campaigner, musician and artist, Aleksandra Skochilenko, was arrested on 11 April 2022 for participating in protests against the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. After spending 19 months in pre-trial detention, Skochilenko was charged in November 2023 and sentenced to seven years in prison. In August 2024, she was released in a prisoner swap and now lives in exile.
[link removed]
CAMPAIGNING CATEGORY (INDIVIDUAL) WINNER:
Diala Ayesh
Ayesh is a Palestinian human rights defender and lawyer. Since 2018, she has monitored the suppression, arrest, or persecution of those exercising their human rights and also represented many of those who have been targeted. On 17 January 2024, Ayesh was arrested by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
[link removed]
CAMPAIGNING CATEGORY (ORGANISATION) WINNER:
Kuchu Times
Kuchu Times is a media platform created for and by LGBTQ+ Ugandans. Its work focuses on ensuring that LGBTQ+ Ugandans have access to information that speaks to their needs, that there is a diverse representation and visibility of their reality and that those seeking knowledge on the LGBTQ+ movement and community can access verifiable information.
[link removed]
JOURNALISM CATEGORY WINNER:
Nasim Soltanbeygi
Soltanbeygi's work focuses on politics, women’s rights and social issues. During the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, she ensured the story of the protests and clampdown reached international audiences. In July 2023, she was sentenced to over four years on charges including “propaganda against the state”. She was released for medical reasons.
[link removed]
TRUSTEE WINNER:
Evgenia Kara-Murza
Evgenia Kara-Murza is advocacy director of Free Russia Foundation, an activist, translator and the wife of political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was imprisoned on 11 April 2022 for protesting Russia’s war on Ukraine. For two years, Kara-Murza led a campaign to speak out against her husband’s arrest and criticise Putin’s regime. As a result, on 1 August 2024, Vladimir Kara-Murza was released.
The Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards, established in 2001, champions those who have risked everything for the right to speak out and defend democracy and human rights. Previous winners include the imprisoned Iranian rapper, Toomaj Salehi; the Pakistani education campaigner Malala Yousafzai; the global whistleblowing platform, Wikileaks; the Turkish artist, Zehra Dogan; Honduran investigative journalist, Wendy Funes and many others.
The jury panel for the 2024 awards was Baroness Hollick OBE; Ziyad Marar, president of global publishing at Sage; Sir Trevor Phillips OBE, chair at Index on Censorship; Ben Preston, culture editor of The Times & Sunday Times; Jemimah Steinfeld, CEO of Index on Censorship.
Help support Index on Censorship ([link removed])
Index on Censorship defends people's freedom to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution. We publish censored writers and artists, monitor and campaign against censorship, and encourage debate.
We rely on donations from readers and supporters. By donating ([link removed]) to Index you help us to protect freedom of expression and to support those who are denied that right.
[link removed] [link removed] [link removed] [link removed] ([link removed])
============================================================
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
INDEX ON CENSORSHIP © COPYRIGHT 2024
** Privacy and Cookie Policy ([link removed])
