10 Sep 21 | Afghanistan, Belarus, Hong Kong, Ruth's blog
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”106069″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]Afghanistan. Hong Kong. Belarus.
Every day we’ve learned of a new atrocity. A new act of repression. A new effort to silence. A new law to intimidate.
The news has been awful. There are too many heartbreaking stories, too many images of people being tortured or arrested. Too many things to be angry about. But the reality is, thankfully, as painful as these stories are. They are in the news. They are being covered. And the world knows what is happening – daylight is truly trying to act as a disinfectant.
So as much as I worry about the horrendous restrictions to free expression that we see on the news and the people behind the headlines, every night I find myself fretting about who we’re not reporting on. Who is missing? What other regimes should we be focusing on. Whose story needs to be told. And most importantly how can we help.
In part, the annual Index Freedom of Expression awards is our answer to that question. Shining a light on activists, campaigners, artists, writers and journalists who are being targeted by repressive regimes. Making sure that some of the bravest most inspirational people in the fight for the right to global free expression have their stories told. This weekend we will be announcing our winners. But it’s not just about our winners, it’s about every nominee from Brazil to Nicaragua, from Egypt to Russia. Their stories, their fights deserve the world’s attention. And on Sunday evening we get to share their stories.
So over the weekend please watch our social media for the coverage. But before we get there I want to thank this year’s sponsors, Facebook, Edwardian Hotels, the Times and Sunday Times, Microsoft and Sage publications for enabling us to shine a spotlight on repressive regimes that don’t always dominate the news.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”You may also want to read” category_id=”41669″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
08 Sep 21
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The Nominees
The 2021 Freedom of Expression Awards will take place on 12 September 2021.
There are three nominees in each category, where each inspiring individual will be judged on their outstanding contributions in the areas of the arts, campaigning and journalism.
The full list of the nominees is below.
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Arts
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”black” border_width=”3″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Daria Apakhonchich”][vc_custom_heading text=”Artist and activist” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left”][vc_custom_heading text=”Daria Apakhonchich is a Russian performance artist and feminist activist. Daria creates artistic performances to protest violence against women and support women’s rights in Russia. She contributed to the ‘Vulva Ballet’ in 2020. The piece was produced in defence of Yulia Tsvetkova, an LGBTQ artist activist and herself a former Index Awards winner, who faces up to six years in prison for her body positive feminist drawings.
In December 2020, Daria learned from media reports that she was the first artist to be labelled a “Foreign Agent” by Russian authorities. She was arrested and fined in January 2021. She also lost her teaching job with the Red Cross due to her activism and feminist engagement.” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Alegreya%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”117390″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/campaigns/letters-from-lukashenkas-prisoners/maxim-znak/”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”0px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Émerson Maranhão”][vc_custom_heading text=”Film director” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left”][vc_custom_heading text=”Émerson Maranhão is a Brazilian film director who focuses on LGBTQ+ visibility. Émerson’s last movie, Those Two, follows the lives of two transgender men and their journey towards self-acceptance. In 2019, the Brazilian government halted state funding for films representing LGBTQ themes. A judge later determined that this decision was discriminatory and ordered that funding be reinstated, a victory in a time of rising censorship of LGBTQ+ artistic expression in Bolsonaro’s Brazil.” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Alegreya%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”117394″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/campaigns/letters-from-lukashenkas-prisoners/volha-takarchuk/”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Tatyana Zelenskaya”][vc_custom_heading text=”Artist” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left”][vc_custom_heading text=”Tatyana Zelenskaya is an illustrator from Kyrgyzstan, her works focus on freedom of expression and women’s rights. Tatyana highlights social issues, including domestic violence and women’s rights. More recently, her work has been inspired by the growing anti-government protests which have erupted across Russia and Kyrgyzstan.
In 2020, she created the artwork for the video game Swallows: Spring in Bishkek which raises awareness about bride-kidnapping. The interactive game provides useful information on bride-kidnapping with the aim of challenging traditional perceptions of the practice.” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Alegreya%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”117407″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/campaigns/letters-from-lukashenkas-prisoners/maria-kalesnikava/”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Campaigning
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”black” border_width=”3″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Nandar”][vc_custom_heading text=”Activist” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left”][vc_custom_heading text=”Nandar is a feminist activist, translator and storyteller from Myanmar. Nandar grew up in a village in the north-eastern Shan state of Myanmar. She experienced first-hand the hardships that many women face when living in a society with traditional gender roles. Nandar created a podcast to tackle taboo topics in the country such as menstruation and abortion.
She also founded the Purple Feminists Group to promote feminist literature, challenge mainstream taboos, amplify women and girls’ voices, and raise awareness of gender-based violence.” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Alegreya%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”117408″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/campaigns/letters-from-lukashenkas-prisoners/maria-kalesnikava/”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Anouar Rahmani”][vc_custom_heading text=”Writer” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left”][vc_custom_heading text=”Anouar Rahmani is an Algerian writer and human rights defender. Through his writings, Anouar explores human rights issues in Algeria, including those of LGBTQ+ people and those of religious minorities. He is the author of two novels, The City of White Shadow and Jibril’s Hallucination. He has faced significant threats and online harassment for his writings. Rahmani has also been harassed by Algerian authorities due to his work. In 2017, he was arrested for blasphemy and in 2020, he was forced to pay a 50,000 Dinar fine for “insulting state officials”.” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Alegreya%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”117410″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/campaigns/letters-from-lukashenkas-prisoners/maria-kalesnikava/”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Abdelrahman “Moka” Tarek”][vc_custom_heading text=”Activist” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left”][vc_custom_heading text=”Abdelrahman “Moka” Tarek is an Egyptian human rights defender and Member of the 6 April Movement. He took part in the 25 January Egyptian Revolution. In 2013 he was arrested at the Shura Council Protest along with 24 other peaceful protesters. He was convicted to 3 years in prison as well as a 3-year suspended sentence.
In September 2019, Abdelrahman was assaulted by a police officer as he was serving his suspended sentence at Qsar Al-Nil Police station. He disappeared soon after sharing this aggression on social media. Since then, new terrorism-related charges have been pressed against him and he was sent back to Tora prison.” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Alegreya%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”117409″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/campaigns/letters-from-lukashenkas-prisoners/maria-kalesnikava/”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Journalism
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”black” border_width=”3″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Kadar Abdi Ibrahim”][vc_custom_heading text=”Activist and journalist” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left”][vc_custom_heading text=”Kadar Abdi Ibrahim is a human rights activist and journalist from Djibouti. Kadar Abdi Ibrahim was the co-director and chief editor of L’Aurore, Djibouti’s only privately-owned media outlet. In 2016, the newspaper was banned following the publication of a story about the massacre of 29 people, understood to have been perpetrated by state forces. In April 2018, just days after returning from Geneva, intelligence service agents raided his house and confiscated his passport. He has been unable to leave the country since then.” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Alegreya%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”117413″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/campaigns/letters-from-lukashenkas-prisoners/maria-kalesnikava/”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Verónica Chávez”][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left”][vc_custom_heading text=”Verónica Chávez is the co-owner of 100% Noticias, an online Nicaraguan media outlet dedicated to providing critical journalism. Despite President Daniel Ortega’s strict crackdown on media in Nicaragua, 100% Noticias has continued to provide critical journalism. In 2018, police raided the offices of 100% Noticias, confiscated the station’s equipment and arrested Chávez, her husband journalist Miguel Mora and news director Lucia Pineda. Chávez was subsequently released, but Mora and Pineda were charged and imprisoned for a year. Chávez continued to run 100% Noticias during that time.
Ortega’s intimidation recently intensified and in October 2020, Chávez was assaulted by members of paramilitary groups close to the government which left her in intensive care. The international community has condemned the attack.” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Alegreya%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”117412″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/campaigns/letters-from-lukashenkas-prisoners/maria-kalesnikava/”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Samira Sabou”][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist and blogger” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left”][vc_custom_heading text=”Samira Sabou is a Nigerien journalist, blogger and president of the Niger Bloggers for Active Citizenship Association (ABCA). In June 2020, Sabou was arrested and charged with defamation under the 2019 cybercrime law in connection with a Facebook post highlighting corruption. She spent over a month in detention before eventually being released.
Through her work with ABCA, she conducts training sessions on disseminating information on social media based on journalistic ethics. She teaches journalists and bloggers how to continue to publish despite a cybercrime law, enacted in 2019, which severely restricts freedom of expression in the country.
Sabou is also active in promoting girls’ and women’s right to free expression and has championed women’s leadership through her work.” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Alegreya%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”117411″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/campaigns/letters-from-lukashenkas-prisoners/maria-kalesnikava/”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
03 Aug 21
[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1569408985014{margin-top: -50px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height=”45px”][vc_custom_heading text=”ABOUT THE AWARDS” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner disable_element=”yes”][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height=”45px”][vc_custom_heading text=”FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AWARDS 2022″ font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle”][vc_column_inner el_class=”awards-inside-desc” width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Index on Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Awards celebrate those who have had significant impact fighting censorship anywhere in the world. There are three categories: Arts, Campaigning and Journalism.
Winners are honoured at a gala celebration in London and join Index’s Awards Fellowship programme to receive dedicated training and support. The panel of judges for the 2021 Freedom of Expression Awards include writer and columnist Fatima Bhutto, award-winning sculptor Anish Kapoor and Ailbhe Smyth, founding director of the Women’s Education, Resource and Research Centre, University College Dublin.
The 21st Annual Freedom of Expression Awards were held on Sunday 12 September 2021 in London.
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About the Freedom of Expression Awards
Index on Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Awards celebrate those who have had significant impact fighting censorship anywhere in the world. There are four categories: Arts, Campaigning, Journalism and the Trustee award. Winners are honoured at a gala celebration in London and receive dedicated training and support.
The panel of judges for the 2022 Freedom of Expression Awards include award winning artist and academic Coco Fusco, BAFTA and award winning artist Alison Jackson, and Executive Editor and Culture Editor of The Sunday Times Ben Preston. The 22nd Annual Freedom of Expression Awards will be held on Thursday 27 October 2022 in London.
Click here to find out more about previous winners.
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The 2021 Freedom of Expression Awards winners were announced at a ceremony in London. This special event seeks to celebrate free expression activists and champions. Actress Tracy-Ann Oberman served as ceremony compere
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”118773″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Awards-sponsorship-package.pdf”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” disable_element=”yes” el_class=”tpl_awards” css=”.vc_custom_1652348786435{margin-bottom: 25px !important;background-color: #0a0a0a !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”114257″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_custom_heading text=”“The Freedom of Expression Awards are a chance to recognise the astonishing work being done in extraordinary circumstances by artists, journalists, and campaigners around the world. Through exercising the simple right that we take for granted – the right to freely express themselves – they risk everything. The Freedom of Expression Awards bring their stories to light, recognise their courageous actions, and underscore how important it is to protect freedom of expression. We have some truly fantastic nominees this year, and I very much look forward to sharing their stories with you.“
Ruth Smeeth, CEO, Index on Censorship” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left|color:%23ffffff”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” disable_element=”yes” el_class=”tpl_awards” css=”.vc_custom_1652348396518{margin-bottom: 25px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”mw600″]
Sponsorship
There are many ways you can sponsor the Awards, and support not only the winners but all the work Index does. Please contact [email protected] for more information.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” el_class=”tpl_awards” css=”.vc_custom_1569441094124{margin-bottom: 25px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AWARDS FELLOWSHIP” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” disable_element=”yes” el_class=”tpl_awards” css=”.vc_custom_1652348831224{margin-bottom: 25px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”MEET THE JUDGES” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Alison Jackson” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:center”][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text el_class=”mw600″]
Alison Jackson, a contemporary BAFTA- and multi-award winning artist, explores the cult of celebrity – an extraordinary phenomenon created by the media, publicity industries and the public figures themselves. Her work raises questions about fake news and alternative facts. She makes convincingly realistic work about celebrities doing things in private using cleverly styled lookalikes. Likeness becomes real, and fantasy touches on the believable. She creates scenarios we have all imagined but never seen before.
She explores our desire to get personal with the celebrities fired by our voyeurism. By making photographs that seem to show our favourite celebrities (Diana, Kim K or Brad Pitt) doing what we really, secretly, want to see them doing.
She has been featured in a number of publications, including Who’s Who, Private 2004, Penguin Books; Confidential: What you see in this book is not ‘real’ 2007, Taschen; Up the Aisle, 2011, Quadrille publishing, Stern Fotographie 70 (2012, teNeues;), and Private, (2016 published by AJ Publishing).
Her work has been acquired by many public museum collections, including: The Parliamentary Art Collection, London; The National Portrait Gallery, London; SF MOMA, San Francisco; The Royal College of Art, London; Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi, Brussels; The Frances Foundation Paris; The International Centre of Photography amongst others.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Ben Preston” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:center”][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text el_class=”mw600″]
Ben Preston is a British journalist. He is an executive editor and Culture Editor of The Sunday Times and a former deputy editor of the Times and editor of Radio Times.
He began his career in 1987, working on local newspapers (Bristol Evening Post). He worked later for the Press Association as education correspondent before joining The Times. He was The Times deputy editor from 2000 to 2008 and Acting Editor for nine months. Subsequently, he was Executive Editor at The Independent from 2008 before joining Radio Times in 2009.
He was awarded Editors’ Editor in the 2016 BSME awards. He returned to newspapers at The Sunday Times, overseeing news through Brexit and Covid before taking charge of Culture last summer.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Coco Fusco” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:center”][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text el_class=”mw600″]
Coco Fusco is an interdisciplinary artist and writer. She is a recipient of numerous awards, including a Guggenheim fellowship, an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, Latinx Art Award, a Fulbright fellowship and a Herb Alpert Award in the Arts. Fusco’s performances and videos have been presented in the 56th Venice Biennale, Frieze Special Projects, Basel Unlimited, three Whitney Biennials (2022, 2008 and 1993), and several other international exhibitions.
Her works are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, The Walker Art Center, the Centre Pompidou, the Imperial War Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona. She is the author of Dangerous Moves: Performance and Politics in Cuba (2015). She is represented by Alexander Gray Associates in New York. She is a Professor of Art at Cooper Union.
Fusco is currently preparing new works for the next Sharjah Biennial and a solo retrospective that will open in 2023.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Trevor Philips” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:center”][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text el_class=”mw600″]
Trevor Phillips is a writer and television producer. He is the co-founder of the data analytics consultancy Webber Phillips, and Chairman of Green Park Interim and Executive Search. He is a Times columnist, shortlisted for Comment Writer of the Year in 2020.
He is the Chairman of the global freedom of expression campaign charity Index on Censorship; a Senior Fellow at the Policy Exchange think tank; and a Vice-President of the Royal Television Society.
Trevor is a non-executive director of the AIM-listed behavioural science consultancy Mind Gym; he was the President of the John Lewis Partnership Council until 2018, and founding chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
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The Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship exists to celebrate individuals or groups who have had a significant impact fighting censorship anywhere in the world. Through the fellowship, Index works with the winners to provide tailored support.
The winners of the 2021 Freedom of Expression Awards are: Kyrgyz artist Tatyana Zelenskaya (arts); imprisoned Egyptian human rights activist Abdelrahman ‘Moka’ Tarek (campaigning); Nigerien blogger and journalist Samira Sabou (journalism), and British academic and free expression activist Dr Arif Ahmed (trustee award).
Previous winners include courageous Honduran investigative journalist Wendy Funes who uncovers corruption and covers the ongoing violations of women’s rights in the country, and anonymous Chinese digital activists GreatFire who have secured significant additional funding since their award.
Click here to find out more about previous winners.
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By donating to the Freedom of Expression Awards you help us support individuals and groups at the forefront of tackling censorship.
Find out more
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1559988967479{background-image: url(https://www.indexoncensorship.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/awards-2019fellows.jpg?id=105848) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_custom_heading text=”Arts” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”|||”][vc_custom_heading text=”Tatyana Zelenskaya” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2F2021%2F09%2Farts-2021%2F”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_custom_heading text=”Campaigning” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”Abdelrahman ‘Moka’ Tarek” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2F2021%2F09%2Fcampaigning-2021%2F|title:Campaigning%202021″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalism” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”Samira Sabou” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2F2021%2F09%2Fjournalism-2021%2F|title:Journalism%202021″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_custom_heading text=”Trustees’ Award” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”Dr Arif Ahmed” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2F2021%2F09%2Ftrustees-2021%2F|title:Trustees%E2%80%99%20Award%202021″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”117474″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2021/09/arts-2021/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”117475″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2021/09/campaigning-2021/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”117476″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2021/09/journalism-2021/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”117477″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2021/09/trustees-2021/”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner disable_element=”yes”][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Arts” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”|||”][vc_custom_heading text=”For artists and arts producers whose work challenges repression and injustice and celebrates artistic free expression
Click here to see the 2022 nominees” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2F2021%2F09%2Farts-2021%2F”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Campaigning” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”For activists and campaigners who have had a marked impact in fighting censorship and promoting freedom of expression
Click here to see the 2022 nominees” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2F2021%2F09%2Fcampaigning-2021%2F|title:Campaigning%202021″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalism” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”For courageous, high-impact and determined journalism that exposes censorship and threats to free expression
Click here to see the 2022 nominees” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2F2021%2F09%2Fjournalism-2021%2F|title:Journalism%202021″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
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05 Jul 21 | Algeria, Awards, Brazil, Burma, Djibouti, Egypt, Fellowship 2021, Kyrgyzstan, News and features, Nicaragua, Niger, Press Releases, Russia
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Index on Censorship has today (5 July) revealed the shortlisted candidates for the charity’s 2021 Freedom of Expression Awards. The winners will be announced at the annual Freedom of Expression Awards Gala on 12 September 2021, and this year’s awards are particularly significant as the charity marks its fiftieth year defending freedom of expression around the globe.
Index on Censorship chief executive Ruth Smeeth said:
“As Index begins to mark its 50th birthday it’s clear that the battle to guarantee free expression and free expression around the globe has never been more relevant. As ever we are in awe of the immense bravery of our award nominees as they stand firm, demanding their rights under repressive regimes. They are inspirational and it is our privilege to help tell their stories.”
The Freedom of Expression Awards, which were first held in 2000, celebrate individuals or groups who have had a significant impact fighting censorship anywhere in the world. Index on Censorship believes that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution, and aim to raise awareness about threats to free expression and the importance of free speech.
Trevor Philips, Chair of the Index on Censorship Board of Trustees says:
“It’s been half a century since Index declared itself a voice for the persecuted. Today, the opponents of freedom are more numerous and more determined than ever to suppress opponents of the powerful. There is more need than ever to campaign for a diversity of voices to be heard. Our awards are just one candle in the growing gale of repression, and it is humbling to be able to back those who keep the flame of free expression alight.”
Awards will be presented in three categories: campaigning, arts, and journalism. This year’s panel of judges includes Afghan-born Pakistani poet and writer Fatima Bhutto, renowned sculptor Anish Kapoor, and feminist and LGBT activist and academic Ailbhe Smyth.
The shortlisted candidates for the Art award include Russian feminist performance artist Daria Apakhonchich, Brazilian film director Émerson Maranhão and Tatyana Zelenskaya, who is an illustrator based in Kyrgyzstan.
The Campaigning shortlist features feminist blogger and podcaster Nandar from Myanmar, Algerian human rights defender and LGBTQ activist Anouar Rahmani, and imprisoned Egyptian human rights activist Abdelrahman “Moka” Tarek.
Finally, the shortlisted candidates for the Journalism award include human rights activist and journalist Kadar Abdi Ibrahim from Djibouti, co-owner of the Nicaraguan independent media outlet 100% Noticias, Veronica Chavez, and Nigerien blogger Samira Sabou who was arrested in 2020 and charged with defamation under a restrictive 2019 cybercrime law.
Art
Daria Apakhonchich
Daria Apakhonchich is a performance artist from Russia, who focuses mainly on women’s rights and artistic freedom. Among other things, she has participated in a performance art piece called ‘Vulva Ballet’ and designed an artistic lament for Anastasia Yeshchenko, who was murdered by her partner in 2019. In December 2020, Apakhonchich became one of the first artists labelled a ‘foreign agent’ by Russian authorities. She was arrested in January 2021 and is now required to add a disclaimer to all social media posts identifying her as a foreign agent.
Émerson Maranhão
Émerson Maranhão is a film director from Brazil, who focuses mainly on LGBTQ+ visibility. His documentary Those Two (2018) follows the lives of two trans men. In 2019 President Jair Bolsonaro moved to cancel funding for movies with LGBTQ+ themes. Bolsonaro explicitly referred to Maranháo’s screenplay Transversais when defending the move. Funding was later reinstated, but members of the LGBT community and their allies continue to face discrimination in Brazil.
Tatyana Zelenskaya
Tatyana Zelenskaya is an illustrator from Kyrgyzstan, working on freedom of expression and women’s rights projects. Zelenskaya has found inspiration for her work in the waves of anti-government protests that have recently erupted across Russia and Kyrgyzstan. In 2020, she created the artwork for a narrative video game called Swallows: Spring in Bishkek, which features a woman who helps her friend that was abducted and forced into an unwanted marriage. The game was downloaded more than 70,000 times in its first month. Its purpose is to break the silence around the issue of bride-kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan, with the aim of preventing them altogether.
Journalism
Kadar Abdi Ibrahim
Kadar Abdi Ibrahim is a human rights activist and journalist from Djibouti. As an outspoken human rights activist, journalist and blogger, Abdi Ibrahim has been a frequent target of the regime. Kadar Abdi served as co-director and chief editor of L’Aurore, Djibouti’s only privately-owned media outlet, before it was banned in 2016. In April 2018, after returning from Geneva, where he carried out advocacy activities in preparation for Djibouti’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR), intelligence services raided Kadar Abdi’s house and confiscated his passport. He has been unable to leave the country since then. In March 2020, he was named ‘Human Rights Defender of the Month’ by Defend the Defenders.
Verónica Chávez
Verónica Chávez is the co-owner of 100% Noticias, an online Nicaraguan media outlet dedicated to providing critical journalism. In 2018, police raided the offices of 100% Noticias and arrested Chávez, her husband journalist Miguel Mora and news director Lucia Pineda. Chávez was released, but Mora and Pineda were charged and imprisoned for a year. Despite the intense repression, Chávez continued to run 100% Noticias during that time. In October 2020, Chávez was violently attacked by members of paramilitary groups close to the government, and was left in intensive care. She subsequently saw an outpouring of support, including from the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which condemned the attack.
Samira Sabou
Samira Sabou is a Nigerien journalist, blogger and president of the Niger Bloggers for Active Citizenship Association (ABCA). In June 2020, Sabou was arrested and charged with defamation under the restrictive 2019 cybercrime law in connection with a comment on her Facebook post highlighting corruption. She spent over a month in detention. Through her work with ABCA, she conducts training sessions on disseminating information on social media based on journalistic ethics. The aim is to give bloggers the means to avoid jail time. Sabou is also active in promoting girls’ and women’s right to freedom of expression.
Campaigning
Nandar
Nandar is a feminist advocate, translator, storyteller from Myanmar. She is the creator of two podcasts: Feminist Talks and G-Taw Zagar Wyne. She founded the Purple Feminists Group and co-directed a production of The Vagina Monologues in Yangon. Building upon her experience as a woman in Myanmar, Nandar now uses her podcasts to tackle taboo topics in the country such as menstruation and abortion. In 2020, Nandar was named on the BBC’s list of 100 most influential and inspirational women around the world. She continues to speak up for justice and equality both from personal and political spheres.
Anouar Rahmani
Anouar Rahmani is a human rights defender, campaigner and writer from Algeria. He advocates for freedom of expression, the rights of minorities, and LGBTQ+ rights in Algeria. He is the first Algerian activist who has publicly called for same-sex marriage to be legally recognised in the country. Rahmani has received death threats and persecution due to his work. In 2017 he was questioned by police for “insulting God” in his novel the City of White Shadows. In 2020, Rahmani was convicted of “insulting state officials” in social media posts and ordered to pay a fine of 50,000 Dinar (£290). Rahmani believes that he is being criminalised in retaliation for his work defending freedom of expression and LGBTQ+ rights in Algeria.
Abdelrahman Tarek
Abdelrahman “Moka” Tarek is a human rights defender from Egypt, who focuses on defending the right to freedom of expression and the rights of prisoners. Tarek has experienced frequent harassment from Egyptian authorities as a result of his work. He has spent longer periods of time in prison and has experienced torture and solitary confinement. Authorities have severely restricted his ability to communicate with his lawyer and family. Tarek was arrested again in September 2020 and in December 2020, a new case was brought against him on terrorism-related charges. Tarek began a hunger strike in protest of the terrorism charges. In January 2021, he was transferred to the prison hospital due to a deterioration in his health caused by the hunger strike. As of July 2021, he remains in prison.
Notes to editors:
For more information on the awards, please contact Leah Cross, [email protected]
For any press-related queries, please contact Luke Holland, [email protected][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
