2014 Golden Pen of Freedom Awarded to Eskinder Nega of Ethiopia

Jailed Ethiopian journalist Eskinder Nega (photo) has been awarded the 2014 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

Photo: Eskinder Nega (Eskinder family), http://www.cpj.org/tags/eskinder-nega 

The award was presented Monday in Turin, Italy, during the opening ceremonies of the 66th World Newspaper Congress, 21st World Editors Forum and 24th World Advertising Forum, before 1,000 publishers, chief editors, CEOs, managing directors and their guests.

A free-thinker and relentless advocate for freedom of expression, Mr. Nega has become an emblem of Ethiopia’s struggle for democracy. Over the past decade his commitment to human rights has placed him in jail on at least seven occasions.

Eskinder Nega is being held in Kaliti Prison outside of Addis Ababa, serving an 18-year sentence as a convicted «terrorist» for having challenged the very same laws used to imprison him, and for questioning whether the Arab Spring protests could be repeated in Ethiopia.

In presenting the award, World Editors Forum President Erik Bjerager said: «The Ethiopian government has tried to present Eskinder Nega as a rabble-rouser bent on fomenting violent revolution. However, accounts from other journalists, backed by court documents and the hundreds of articles he has written, portray a tenacious writer who has called only for peaceful change and reconciliation.»

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More:

http://www.wan-ifra.org/press-releases/2014/06/09/2014-golden-pen-of-freedom-awarded-to-eskinder-nega-of-ethiopia