Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 3rd May. UNESCO on Tuesday announced three imprisoned Iranian women journalists whose reporting helped spark the revolution surrounded the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody are the winners of world press freedom award this year, according to a press release issued in New York.
UNESCO stated that Niloofar Hamedi, Elaheh Mohammadi and Narges Mohammadi have been named as the laureates of the 2023 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize at a time when women journalists are increasingly under threat.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said that “Now more than ever, it is important to pay tribute to all women journalists who are prevented from doing their jobs and who face threats and attacks on their personal safety. Today we are honoring their commitment to truth and accountability,”
Three journalists were selected after the recommendation of an international jury of media professionals.
Zainab Salbi, the jury Chair said “We are committed to honoring the brave work of Iranian female journalists whose reporting led to a historical women-led revolution,”.
“They paid a hefty price for their commitment to report on and convey the truth. And for that, we are committed to honoring them and ensuring their voices will continue to echo worldwide until they are safe and free.”
UNESCO said that Niloofar Hamedi writes for the leading reformist daily newspaper Shargh. She broke the news of the death of Mahsa Amini, the young woman who died in detention on 16 September 2022, three days after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly failing to properly cover her hair.
She has been held in solitary confinement in notorious Evin Prison, located in the capital, Tehran, since last September.
Second journalist, Elaheh Mohammadi covers social issues and gender equality for the reformist newspaper, Ham-Mihan.
She reported on Ms. Amini’s funeral and has also been detained in Evin Prison since September 2022. She had been barred from reporting for a year in 2020 due to her work.
Thirdly, Ms. Hamedi and Ms. Mohammadi are joint winners of both the 2023 International Press Freedom Award by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression and the 2023 Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism, presented by Harvard University in the United States.
They were named as two of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2023.
Narges Mohammadi has worked for many years as a journalist for a range of newspapers and is an author and Vice-Director of the Tehran-based civil society organization Defenders of Human Rights Center. She is serving a 16-year sentence in Evin Prison.
Ms. Mohammadi has continued to report in print from prison.
She has interviewed other women prisoners, and these interviews are included in her book White Torture.
She won the Reporters Without Borders’ Courage Prize last year.
UNESCO has a mandate to ensure freedom of expression and the safety of journalists around the world.
Globally, women journalists and media workers face increasing attacks, whether in real life or online, including stigmatization, sexist hate speech, trolling, physical assault, rape and even murder, the agency said.
The agency advocates for their safety and collaborates with partners to identify and implement good practices and share recommendations aimed at countering these attacks.
UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize was established in 1997.
It is presented to a person, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to press freedom, and especially when this has been achieved in the face of danger.
The award is named in honor of Colombian journalist Guillermo Cano Isaza, who was assassinated in front of the offices of his newspaper, El Espectador, in Bogotá, on 17 December 1986.
Maria Ressa of the Philippines, joint winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with fellow journalist Dmitry Muratov of Russia were the laureates last year.
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