{"id":33266,"date":"2012-02-28T11:31:41","date_gmt":"2012-02-28T11:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.indexoncensorship.org\/?p=33266"},"modified":"2017-05-03T16:25:59","modified_gmt":"2017-05-03T15:25:59","slug":"journalism-nominees-index-freedom-of-expression-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indexoncensorship.org\/newsite02may\/?p=33266","title":{"rendered":"Journalism Nominees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recognising investigative journalism of dogged determination across a range of media including print, online, radio and television, taking into consideration impact, originality and revelation<\/h3>\n

Han Han, blogger, China<\/h2>\n

\"Han<\/a>The author of China\u2019s most widely read blog, 29-year-old Han Han has been called \u201cthe world\u2019s most popular blogger\u201d. He is also famed for being a cultural critic, race-car driver, actor and novelist. But despite his rock star status he has long been considered a thorn in the side of the Chinese government.<\/p>\n

Though he has avoided ideological allegiances, Han Han recently sparked controversy with his essays, \u201cOn Democracy\u201d, \u201cOn Revolution\u201d and \u201cWanting Freedom\u201d, which questioned where democracy really equals freedom and whether China will ever be capable of genuine reform.<\/p>\n

Han Han has talked about suffering censorship: \u201cEach time I do finish writing something and then can\u2019t see it [after I post it, because it has been censored], I get despondent. And there are just so many government departments [to get past]. Even if the propaganda department and the General Administration of Press and Publications are fine with something, any department issued can wipe your essay away with a simple phone call.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luc\u00eda Escobar, journalist, Guatemala<\/h2>\n

\"Lucia<\/a>Luc\u00eda\u00a0Escobar\u2019s story highlights the state of press freedom in Guatemala, where journalists are regularly intimidated by paramilitary groups. Escobar is a freelance columnist for El Peri\u00f3dico, a publication based in Guatemala City, and also operates an online radio station, Radio Ati.<\/p>\n

On 19 October 2011, Escobar published a column alleging that a local mayor had turned a citizens\u2019 group into a death squad that was socially cleansing \u201cundesirables\u201d, such as beggars and homeless people, and committed crimes including lynchings, torture, beatings and a kidnapping. In her column, Escobar blamed local government figures for being indifferent to the group\u2019s activities.<\/p>\n

Subsequent death threats forced Escobar to flee her home with her family and she has said she will remain in exile until the situation improves. No action has been taken by Guatemalan authorities, pointing to a worrying trend in Central America where those in power ignore attacks on journalists.<\/p>\n

Kayvan Samimi, journalist, Iran<\/h2>\n

\"Kayvan<\/a>Iranian journalist Kayvan Samimi has been instrumental in keeping dissent alive in the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n

Despite being imprisoned since 2009, Samimi has played a significant role in highlighting the attacks against those who attempt criticise the Iranian administration. In May 2011 Samimi co-authored a letter condemning the Iranian administration for its treatment of prisoners. The letter recorded the methods of torture used against the signatories.<\/p>\n

He is serving a six-year prison sentence on charges of \u201cpropagating against the regime\u201d and \u201cassembly and collusion to disrupt national security\u201d and has been banned from \u201cpolitical, social, and cultural activities\u201d for 15 years, having been detained in the immediate aftermath of the 2009 presidential election.<\/p>\n

Idrak Abbasov, journalist, Azerbaijan<\/h2>\n

\"Idrak<\/a>Idrak Abbasov is an Azerbaijani journalist whose investigative work has put his life in danger. Abbasov reports for newspaper Ayna-Zerkalo, contributes to the Institute for War & Peace Reporting website, and he is one of the founding members of Azerbaijan\u2019s Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) .<\/p>\n

On 9 September 2011, after Abbasov investigated the activities of a local oil company, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) sent bulldozers to his family\u2019s home. SOCAR claimed ownership of the site as part of a project to develop local oil resources with Global Energy Azerbaijan Ltd. His parents and brother were hospitalised after being attacked by the company\u2019s security service during the incident.<\/p>\n

It is believed that bulldozers targeted the journalist\u2019s home because of his work monitoring human rights. The violence, threats and harassment of Abbasov and his family continued when his parents were again attacked at their home. One assailant reportedly said: \u201cTell Idrak to get smarter, or we will cut off his ears.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Freedom<\/a><\/p>\n

supported by<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recognising investigative journalism of dogged determination across a range of media including print, online, radio and television, taking into consideration impact, originality and revelation Han Han, blogger, China The author of China\u2019s most widely read blog, 29-year-old Han Han has been called \u201cthe world\u2019s most popular blogger\u201d. He is also famed for being a cultural […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[8935,8867],"tags":[4368,3808,4357,4358,4370,4369],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indexoncensorship.org\/newsite02may\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33266"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indexoncensorship.org\/newsite02may\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indexoncensorship.org\/newsite02may\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indexoncensorship.org\/newsite02may\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indexoncensorship.org\/newsite02may\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33266"}],"version-history":[{"count":85,"href":"https:\/\/www.indexoncensorship.org\/newsite02may\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78074,"href":"https:\/\/www.indexoncensorship.org\/newsite02may\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33266\/revisions\/78074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indexoncensorship.org\/newsite02may\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indexoncensorship.org\/newsite02may\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indexoncensorship.org\/newsite02may\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}