“I am not afraid of being killed,” says Egyptian journalist Abeer Al-Askary

Honouring the Best Who Cover the Worst

By Stephen Leahy

TORONTO, Nov 3 (IPS) – “I am not afraid of being killed,” says Egyptian journalist Abeer Al-Askary, who has been repeatedly threatened and beaten by Egyptian government security forces.

“The journey towards full freedom of expression is long and it is difficult,” Al-Askary told IPS.

Al-Askary was in Toronto Wednesday to receive one of this year’s three International Press Freedom Awards from the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE).

Colombian print and television journalist Hollman Morris and Pakistani writer and photographer Hayat Ullah Khan were the other award recipients.

Khan’s family will receive the 3,000-dollar award because he was abducted on Dec. 5, 2005. His body was found in North Waziristan near Afghanistan on Jun. 16 this year. He had been handcuffed and shot in the head. Pakistani intelligence services are suspected since Khan was kidnapped four days after reporting on and releasing photos about a missile attack on North Waziristan by what may have been a U.S. drone.

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*Photo Courtesy of Canadian Journalist for Free Expression