SAMIR KASSIR AWARD FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS - The European Union rewards winners of the 2019 edition of the SK Awards

SAMIR KASSIR AWARD FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS The European Union rewards three journalist winners of the 2019 edition of the SK Awards

SAMIR KASSIR AWARD FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

The European Union rewards winners of the 2019 edition of the SK Awards

Organised every year since 2006, the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press

honours the memory of the Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir, who was assassinated on

2 June 2005 in Beirut. The award is funded by the European Union and rewards journalists who have distinguished themselves through the quality of their work and their commitment to human rights and democracy. This year 233 journalists participated in the competition from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen.

The winners of the 2019 award are:

- Opinion piece category: Roger Asfar from Syria, born in 1983, a writer and inter-faith dialogue expert based in Beirut. His article entitled “Captain Majed or the Father Commander” was published in Al-Hayat newspaper on May 14th 2018 and highlights the need to break away from the concept of heroes in order to build a democratic society in Syria.

- Investigative article category: Ali Al-Ibrahim from Syria, born in 1988, is a reporter based in Stockholm. His report entitled “Forging Death: The Syrian Regime Conceals its War Crimes” was published in VICE Arabia on December 9th 2018 and highlights the discrepancy between the official causes of death of prisoners in the Syrian prisons and the more likely causes believed by families and international human rights organisations.