Photojournalist of Turan news agency awarded a prestigious international prize

Baku/18.08.20/Turan: The Free Media Awards 2020 are being conferred on the following individuals and entities: the Russian media platform Mediazona for its educational reporting and its efforts in support of independent journalism; the editorial department of the Russian Projekt.Media for its investigative research on corruption and abuse of power; the Azerbaijani photojournalist Aziz Karimov for his eye-opening photo essays on the situation in the rural regions of Azerbaijan; the Ukrainian journalist Stanislav Aseyev for his reports on the situation of prisoners and life in the war zone; and the editorial department of the Ukrainian television programme Schemes for its investigative journalism.

Aziz Karimov works as a documentary photographer. His works have been widely published, e.g. by the Radio Liberty, Reuters and the Los Angeles, Human Right Watch Times. Aziz Karimov has been photographing and documenting political protests in Azerbaijan since 2013. In his photo studies he also looks at social problems in Azerbaijani regions. The Azerbaijani government has repeatedly attempted to restrict his work and keep him away from local and international events. Despite the strict control of the media and individual threats, Aziz Karimov continues to document volatile political and social issues.

“It takes a lot of courage and huge amounts of endurance to do investigative journalism and reporting on controversial issues in authoritarian countries. The information which the award winners manage to publish, as a result of their tough achievements in hostile environments, is vitally important and crucial for the democratic movements in Eastern Europe” says Dr. Knut Olav Åmås, executive director at the Fritt Ord Foundation.

“This year’s Free Media Awards are being bestowed on brave journalists and editorial departments which fearlessly uncover corruption and the abuse of power, who expose human rights violations, and who are not intimidated by their governments. In doing so they defend the freedom of the press that is vital for a functioning civil society. Supporting their efforts is a mission of great importance for the ZEIT-Stiftung”, explains Prof. Dr. Michael Göring, CEO of the ZEIT Foundation.

In order to publicize and combat the threat to media freedom and the growing repression of Eastern European journalists, the two foundations give out up to five awards annually, with each award carrying a financial prize. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Free Media Award ceremony will be postponed until 2021.

Recall that 13 years ago, the same award was awarded to the  Turan news agensy, and last year, the agency's correpondent Hawiz Babaly. --0--