Azerbaijani journalist Sevinj Vagifgizi has been awarded the 2024 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Courage Prize, selected from a shortlist that also included Serbia’s N1 newsroom.
Because Vagifgizi has been jailed since 2023 and sentenced to nine years in prison on what press-freedom advocates describe as fabricated charges, the award was accepted on her behalf in Paris by an exiled editor from her media outlet.
RSF described Vagifgizi as “a steadfast voice for independent journalism and human rights”, noting that she continues to fight for press freedom from inside prison.
Other nominees included journalists from Burkina Faso, the Philippines, El Salvador and Palestine, as well as N1 Television (Serbia), which RSF called “a model of journalistic courage” in a challenging media environment.
N1 was the only media organisation from the former Yugoslav region to be shortlisted. The ceremony in Paris brought together leading media organisations, journalists and freedom-of-press defenders from around the world, with awards granted across five categories including courage, independence, impact, African investigative journalism and photojournalism.
Source: N1
