Forty six states, including all EU Members, have nominated the Belarusian Association of Journalists as candidate for the UNESCO 2022 Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.
Each year since 1997, the Prize has been awarded to a person, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence and, or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially when achieved in the face of danger.
By nominating the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), whose Minsk outlet was closed by a decision of Belarus’s Supreme Court in 2021, the nominating states express solidarity with and appreciation for the work of journalists who were unjustly arrested, prosecuted, intimidated and imprisoned in Belarus, as well as with professional organizations which stand behind them.
This nomination is being made in tribute to journalists currently subject to repression by the Belarusian authorities who symbolize the global struggle for free media and freedom of speech.
The list of countries which submitted the nomination: Austria, Albania, Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Korea, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom.
The final selection of the Prize winner will be announced on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, on 3 May 2022.
More information about the prize here and about the Belarussian Association of Journalists here.