Jailed Egyptian photographer Mahmoud Abu Zeid to receive UN press freedom prize

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Jailed Egyptian photographer Mahmoud Abu Zeid to receive UN press freedom prize

2:31 CAT | 23 Apr 2018

Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, better known as Shawkan, will be awarded the 2018 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Press Freedom Prize, the United Nations cultural branch announced on Monday.

“The choice of Mahmoud Abu Zeid pays tribute to his courage, resistance and commitment to freedom of expression,” said jury president Maria Ressa.

Shawkan has been in prison since August 14, 2013, where he reportedly faces the death penalty. He was arrested while covering violent clashes between supporters of ousted President Morsi and security forces in Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square in Cairo, which left hundreds of Islamist protesters dead.

Zeid was selected for the award by an independent international jury of media professionals. He has contributed to publications including Time Magazine, Die Zeit, BILD, Media Group, and online photo agency, Demotix.

*Jailed Egyptian journalists stand behind bars during their trial (Reuters/A.A.Dalsh)*

Mahmoud Abu Zeid has been in prison since August 2013, where he reportedly faces the death penalty

‘I am a journalist not a criminal’

In a letter Shawkan wrote to DW on World Press Freedom Day in 2015, he said, “I don’t know when this nightmare is going to end just because I was doing my job as a photojournalist during the operation of the dispersal of the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest camp.”

“I am living in a tiny cell under harsh conditions that an animal wouldn’t bear and am facing false accusations with no grounds of truth and mixed up with protesters who were arrested,” he continued.

The letter ended with the words: “I am a journalist not a criminal…HELP ME!!”

Shawkan had been in prison, where he remains, for more than 600 days at the time.

Source: Deutsche Welle