The awards ceremony for the Samir Kassir press freedom competition took place late on Tuesday.
The winners of the 19th edition are:
Aseel Saraih, Yemen: Best audiovisual news report
Abdelrahman El Gendy, Egypt: Best opinion piece
Hadel Arja, Syria: Best investigative article
The prize, awarded since 2006 by the European Union and one of the most prestigious in the region, pays tribute to Lebanese journalist and writer Samir Kassir, assassinated in 2005, a few weeks after the Syrian Army withdrew from Lebanon.
The prize is awarded exclusively to journalists from Arab countries. Since its inception, it has attracted just over 3,000 entries from the Middle East, the Gulf, and North Africa.
Entries must focus on one or more of the following themes: the rule of law, human rights, good governance, the fight against corruption, freedom of expression, democratic development, and citizen participation. The winner in each of the three categories receives a prize of €10,000.
“The picture is bleak for journalists in the region. A record number of journalists and media professionals have been killed in the line of duty. Violence continues to be used on a daily basis to silence them,” declared the European Union’s ambassador to Lebanon, Sandra de Waele, at the launch of the prize.
For the first time, the award ceremony is taking place without the presence of the founder of the Samir Kassir Foundation, Gisèle Khoury, who died in October 2023.
Khoury, Samir Kassir’s widow, was an emblematic figure of Lebanese journalism and a fervent defender of press freedom.
