American ambassador in Belarus Michael Kozak congratulated the Belarusian Association of Journalists with the winning of “Golden feather” award of the International Newspaper Association in November last year for BAJ’s brave confronting of Alexander Lukashenko’s unleashed repressions. The diplomat voiced his greetings at the official reception, organized by Kozak’s family in Raubichi on February 12. Below you may familiarize yourself with the text of his solemn speech.
«It is a great honor for Eileen and me to welcome all of you to my home tonight. With great pleasure I congratulate the Belarusian Association of Journalists on being named the recipient of the Golden Pen award. This award has a special significance to me because I first became aware of it in 1970s, when a guy named Jacobo Timerman, who was a journalist in Argentina, won this award at the time that military government in that country were killing and disappearing people, especially journalists. And eventually people, who were fighting for freedom in that country, prevailed.
As a recipient of this award, BAJ is being recognized for its steadfast commitment to the main principles of democratic society. And, I think, one of the absolutely essential principles of democracy is the right of people to receive uncensored information, and the obligation of journalists to provide such information.
The Golden Pen of Freedom is a prestigious, annual press freedom prize of the Paris-based, multinational World Association of Newspapers, which unites editors and media organizations from more than 80 countries all over the globe. In its statement, the WAN Board said: "If it were not for the extraordinary resistance of BAJ, freedom of information and expression would most likely have been entirely eliminated in Belarus."
Any of us, who live here in Belarus, know how absolutely correct that observation is. During recent months, we have seen Belarusian journalists arrested and put into custody for doing their duties well. We went and saw Pavel Mozheiko working at the sawmill. We also, unfortunately, can remember journalists who we don’t know where they are, like Dmitry Zavadsky. We have seen newspapers closed in Belarus on charges that would be considered completely ridiculous in any other part of the world. Polina and I have been to some of these trials - pretty ridiculous. We have seen laws passed in Belarus that encroach on the right of the people to receive information. But in each of these situations we have seen the efforts of the BAJ’s absolutely consistent and relentless effort to bring out what was happening to their repressed colleagues and their families and to raise international awareness of this, and to stand up to the government’s endeavors to jeopardize freedom of the press.
I think, the most effective way you have done that has been by doing your jobs. You haven’t been intimidated by the efforts to intimidate, made by the regime.
Belarusian journalists have received several prestigious awards during the past 5 years -- from the EU, the Committee for Protection of Journalists, International Women’s Media Fund, and at international documentary film festivals. It has been a constant subject at the OSCE as well, I would mention. These developments reflect concerns around the world about the media situation in Belarus and international awareness of the hardships that journalists in Belarus face.
The Golden Pen award being awarded to BAJ marks only the second time in the 40-year history of the award that it is going to a group rather than an individual. The only other time it was awarded to a group was in 1969 to the Czech press. And we all know what they were up against at that time.
With my highest compliments to your work, I would like to propose a toast to BAJ in recognition of your achievement as a recipient of the celebrated Golden Pen Award. You are a force to reckon with, carrying out the noble work of upholding freedom of the press and professional solidarity. Together you stand, and together with you we stand for a prosperous, democratic, independent Belarus!»
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