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IPI Hero Award ‘signal of hope to other imprisoned journalists in Africa’

Ethiopian rights activist reflects on significance of international support for imprisoned journalist Eskinder Nega

IPI Hero Award ‘signal of hope to other imprisoned journalists in Africa’

“Prisoners struggle with the feeling of being forgotten and being alone,” Mesfin Negash, program director at the Stockholm-based NGO Civil Rights Defenders, said in accepting the IPI World Press Freedom Hero Award on behalf of imprisoned Ethiopian journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega. “This is a way to let [Eskinder] know that we value his work”.

Mesfin, an Ethiopian journalist living in exile in Sweden, offered a final message of hope to all those behind bars in Africa for expressing their right to freedom of expression: “We remember you, we stand in solidarity with you and we value your work.”

The IPI World Press Freedom Hero Award was presented in cooperation with the Copenhagen-based International Media Support (IMS) at IPI’s 2017 World Congress in Hamburg, Germany in May.

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