Khadija Ismayilova selected for 2016 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize

Investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova of Azerbaijan has been chosen for the prestigious 2016 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.
She will be bestowed with this award during the celebration of World Press Freedom Day i.e. on 3 May 2016 in recognition of her outstanding contribution to press freedom in difficult circumstances.
Her name for the prestigious award was recommended by an independent international jury of media professionals.
Khadija Ismayilova is a freelance journalist and contributor to the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe. In September 2015, she was sentenced to seven and a half years’ imprisonment on charges relating to abuse of power and tax evasion.

About UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize

• Established in 1997 by UNESCO’s Executive Board in honour of Colombian journalist Guillermo Cano Isaza.
• Funded by Colombia based Cano Foundation and Finland based Helsingin Sanomat Foundation. The award includes 25000 US dollars cash Prize.
• It honours a person, organization or institution for their outstanding contribution to the defence and promotion of freedom of press anywhere in the world, especially achieved in the face of danger.
• Guillermo Cano Isaza was a Colombian journalist who was assassinated on 17 December 1986 in front of the offices of his newspaper, El Espectador in Bogota.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2016