The Deutsche Welle (DW) Freedom of Speech Award 2016 goes to Turkish ‘Hürriyet’ journalist Sedat Ergin. The DW prize is awarded annually to journalists who stand out in their fight for human righ
ts and free speech. The award ceremony will on 13 June 2016 at the Global Media Forum in Bonn, Germany.
Sedat Ergin, editor-in-chief of the Turkish daily “Hürriyet,”
Ergin has been on trial since March for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He shared the fate of hundreds of journalists in Turkey who were exposed to high risks every day in the struggle to maintain independent journalism and press freedoms. 
“We cannot just look the other way and remain silent when journalists, artists and scientists are being systematically intimidated and harassed by authorities,” DW Director General Peter Limburg said.
Ergin said he was “honored to receive the award that stands for the preservation of press freedom worldwide.” When summoned to court in Istanbul in late March, Ergin drew a somber picture of the situation: “Press freedom in Turkey in 2016 is confined to courthouse corridors.” One of Erdogan’s lawyers brought the case against him, alleging that in an article in “Hürriyet” Ergin had written derisively about a speech given by Erdogan after an attack by the banned Kurdish PKK movement on Turkish soldiers. “Hürriyet,” a leading independent Turkish daily newspaper, endured two attacks on its headquarters last year by pro-government mobs.
[Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who has been held in prison since 2012, received DW’s first Freedom of Speech Award in 2015.]
Source: DW Freedom of Speech Award goes to Turkish ′Hürriyet′
see also: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2016/03/20/turkey-fair-trial-human-rights-lawyers-expression-l4l/
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