#right2info

The shortlist for the third annual GUE/NGL Award for ‘Journalists, Whistleblowers and Defenders of the Right to Information’ has been unveiled.

Dedicated to individuals or groups who have been intimidated and/or persecuted for uncovering the truth and exposing it to the public, this year’s award is once again named in honour of the late Maltese journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The 2020 renewal will also be dedicated to Dr Li Wenliang, the Chinese ophthalmologist who first revealed the seriousness of the coronavirus outbreak to the world, but later died in hospital in Wuhan.

The six nominees are:

Chelsea Manning, whistleblower & former US army

Correctiv/‘cum-ex’ scandal, non-profit investigators

Glenn Greenwald, campaigning journalist & author

Eileen Chubb, British care home abuse whistleblower

Omar Rojas Bolaños, Colombian whistleblower

Greece’s Novartis whistleblowers

You can read more about the nominees here.

The prize will be awarded on 14th October at the European Parliament in Brussels – two days before the third anniversary of Caruana Galizia’s death.

The winner will also receive 5000 euros for their work.

Details of the jury can also be found here.

Greek MEP Stelios Kouloglou, who as a former journalist, says of this year’s prize:

“This award is now a well-established, annual fixture in the European Parliament. It is important that we continue to give moral support for the whistleblowers: they are the heroes of our time.”

Portuguese MEP Marisa Matias added:

“Standing up for whistleblowers is a way of defending and promoting democratic values.”

“We are talking about brave people who have endangered their lives in the name of our collective good. It’s always important to give them voice, visibility and protection. Given the current situation, this is more vital than ever,” she said.

“Democracy is at stake, and those taking risks are coming under more threats than ever before. Just thanking them is not enough: we need to fight on their behalf. This prize, in a small way, will help achieve that alongside our political struggle,” she concluded.

Finally, Spanish MEP Miguel Urbán said:

“The Covid-19 crisis has served as an excuse to erode the rights and freedoms, and to impose the Shock Doctrine.”

“Now, more than ever, we must defend the right to information and press freedom, not only because they are the pillars of democracy, but in order to stop governments from unleashing antidemocratic and authoritarian policies.”