Martin Schibbye accepted this year's Golden Pen of Freedom on behalf of Ethiopian publisher and journalist Eskinder Nega. Schibbye spent 14 months in the same brutal prison where Nega remains. Schibbye offered a moving account of his friend's life and his ongoing commitment to press freedom regardless of the high price he continues to pay. "Ethiopian publisher and journalist Eskinder Nega, a celebrated intellectual and relentless fighter for freedom of expression, has become an emblem of Ethiopia's recent struggle for democracy," said World Editors Forum President Erik Bjerager during the opening ceremony of the World Newspaper Congress in Turin, Italy. "No stranger to prison, he is also an unforgettable warning to every working Ethiopian journalist and editor that the quest to create a just, free society comes with a heavy price.... He is currently being held in the Kality prison outside of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Convicted as a 'terrorist,' he is serving an 18-year sentence.
展开▼
