Journalists from Southern Caucasus and Russia rewarded in Oslo

On June 3, the capital of Norway hosted the awarding ceremony of Herd Bucerius Award "Free Press of Eastern Europe" to journalists from the CIS countries. Journalists from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Russia were among the laureates.

This year, the prize-winners are media professionals from Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, where, in the opinion of the jury, the situation with the freedom of speech is the worst.

The "Caucasian Knot" has already reported that Azerbaijani journalist Natig Dzhavadly was awarded for his analytical and critical materials on corruption and violations of human rights in Azerbaijan, and for a series of interviews with well-known politicians.

The "Azadlyg" newspaper was recognized as the edition, subjected to strongest pressure from the authorities. Its editor-in-chief Ganimat Zakhid is in prison. The prize was handed over to director of the newspaper Azer Ahmedov, as reported by the "Turan" Agency.

Russian laureates for contribution to development of free journalism and freedom of speech are Roman Shleinov, editor of the investigations department of "Novaya Gazeta", and journalist Zoya Svetova, who is cooperating with three editions in parallel: newspaper "Novye Izvestia", Internet edition "Daily Magazine" and in Caucasian independent magazine "DOSh".

Besides, Marianna Grigoryan, an independent author from Armenia, was also awarded.

In the category of mass media, apart from "Azadlyg", the awards were granted to the Minsk-based newspaper "Novy Chas" (New Time) and Adzharia-based weekly "Batumelebi".

As reported by the Deutsche Welle Radio, each of the journalists received 10,000 euros, and each newspaper - 30,000 euros. The awards were funded by the Die Zeit weekly jointly with the Norwegian Foundation "Fritt Ord".

In 2007, the "Caucasian Knot" was a laureate of the international journalistic Herd Bucerius Prize.