Index on Censorship’s annual awards represent one of the United Kingdom’s most prestigious celebrations of freedom of expression in all forms. Held this year in the hallowed halls of London’s Middle Temple - one of the four Inns of Court, which have the exclusive right to call men and women to the Bar of England and Wales. According to Index’s chairman, Jonathan Dimbleby , the awards celebrate the fundamental right to "write, blog, tweet, speak out, protest and create art and literature and music".
Winners included South African photographer Zanele Muholi, whose photos of black lesbian life in South Africa provoked fierce opposition, Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai who was shot by the Taliban for militating for education for girls, and Greek editor Kostas Vaxevanis, who was indicted for publishing a list of wealthy Greeks who hold Swiss bank accounts and were accused of evading taxes.
Google supports the event and in particular the prize for Digital Freedom Award, which recognises the original use of new technology to foster debate, argument or dissent. An independent jury chooses the nominees and picks the winner. This year’s award went to imprisoned Palestinian-born Syrian software engineer Bassel Khartabil. A free internet pioneer, Khartabil was arrested on March 15, 2012 in Damascus His family were given no official information about why or where he was detained. Bassel's friend Dana Trometer collected the Index award on his behalf, saying she hoped the award would help him soon win his freedom.
Khartabil is known worldwide for his strong commitment to the open web, teaching others about technology. He is the inventor of an open source software that powers the Open Clip Art Library, an original contributor to the Arabic Wikipedia and the founder of Creative Commons Syria.
Amid the champagne and canapes, in the historic setting, it was inspiring to hear the stories of these brave defenders of freedom. Google is proud to support this important event.
Posted by William Echikson, Head of Free Expression, Europe, Middle East and Africa
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