Syrian journalist Erhaim Zaina, 30, who worked for the city of Aleppo, ravaged by more than four years of war, is the winner of the 2015 Reporters Without Borders (RSF), presented Tuesday evening in Strasbourg.
The young woman, whose country is considered the most dangerous in the world for journalists, was chosen for its “ethics, determination and courage” and ability to “emphasize the human dimension behind the scenes of war “, said the organizers.
His award was presented to her uncle, at a ceremony held on the sidelines of the “World Forum of Democracy”, attended by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland.
For two years, Zaina Erhaim has trained a hundred people, a third of women in television journalism and print media, contributing to the emergence of new newspapers and magazines in Syria.
The organization of press freedom also awarded the prize of “Media of the Year” in Turkish daily Cumhuriyet of opposition, which “pays the price for his courageous and independent journalism” in a country where ” a growing crackdown on critical voices. “
In May, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had filed a complaint against Cumhuriyet, which published photos of interception, in January 2014, a convoy loaded with weapons to Syria belonging to the intelligence services (MIT). Its editor, Can Dündar, came Tuesday in Strasbourg to get her award, faces a heavy prison sentence.
RSF also notes that the opposition daily -which stood out for its coverage of the Kurdish question and the Armenian Genocide undergoes “cascade process”, the “repeated blockages of its Internet site” and “slander campaigns “.
It was also the only daily in the Muslim world to be reproduced in its print edition number two reduced versions published by Charlie Hebdo after the attack in January in Paris – with a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad – which earned him prosecuted court.
RSF awarded its prize for “citizen journalist of the year” in a group of Ethiopian bloggers Zone9 who “regularly denounce the draconian regime” in power in Addis Ababa.
Six of these bloggers have recently increased from 15 to 18 months in prison on charges of planning terrorist attacks. Victims of “constant harassment from the authorities,” then arrested in April 2014, they were released in July and October.
None could be present in Strasbourg on Tuesday to seek its price.
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