|
Accra,
Ghana, October 24, 2009 – The second prize for Africa 2009 Lorenzo
Natali Prize went to Anas Aremeyaw Anas of the New Crusading Guide
newspaper of Ghana and an ace reporter of AfricaNews. His investigative
masterpiece on the "Chinese mafia sex" in the West African nation won
him the prestigious award.
Fifteen winners, chosen from over 1,000 applicants worldwide, were
awarded by an independent jury composed of eight members from the
profession at a ceremony in Stockholm on Thursday. According to the
press statement from the Delegation of the European Commission to Ghana,
the occasion coincided with the European Development Days.
The prize consists of 12 regional awards, a special Radio award, TV
Special Award and the Grand Natalie Prize. Anas’ undercover
investigations which revealed the Chinese Mafia sex scandal had him
worked as a hired waiter in a hotel. During his surveillance he observed
closely the violent and inhumane practices of Chinese pimps.
The European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Karel De
Gucht, said: “Freedom of expression is one of our most fundamental
rights. By committing to be witnesses of our time, journalists have
chosen what many consider the best job in the world. By showing the
living conditions and contemporary accounts of events that shake the
world, denouncing the injustices and scandals and revealing all these,
is to participate in the promotion of democracy, development and
freedom.
“The Natali Prize is an opportunity to pay tribute to those men and
women who sometimes risked their lives trying to improve the world we
live in, putting us in front the realities of today.
“I congratulate the winner of the Second Prize for Africa 2009, Anas
Aremeyaw, a young journalist investigating the many attacks on the
rights of man, for his tenacity and perseverance to denounce injustice.”
The first prize for Africa 2009, Natali Prize went to Richard Mgamba, of
The Guardian on Sunday, Tanzania, for his article “The battle for
souls”. The third price went to Moussa Zongo, of Event, Burkina Faso,
for his article “Bread underground at the price of rashness”. The Natali
Grand Prize went to Sichuan Earthquake, of Now TV, China, for his
article “One year on from Lee Yee Chong”.
Background
Lorenzo Natali Prize is a global prize created in 1992, addressed to all
media. The prize is part of the development policy of the European
Commission which considers the protection of fundamental freedoms,
freedom of expression, democracy, human rights as essential.
To organize the Lorenzo Natali Prize, the European Commission partnered
with the World Press Associations among which are the most recognized,
such as Reporters Without Borders (winner of the Sakharov Prize for
Freedom of Thought in 2005) and The World Association of Newspapers
(which represents over 18,000 publications on five continents).
Source: AfricaNews, October 23, 2009
|
|
