President of the US state’s National Press Club Journalism Institute has announced Indian Journalist Rana Ayyub as the 2022 International John Aubuchon Award Honoree.
The Aubuchon is the Club’s highest honor for Press Freedom.
“We are pleased to name Rana Ayyub the 2022 John Aubuchon Award International Honoree. Ms. Ayyub’s courage and skill in investigative work have been evident throughout her distinguished career and her criticism of the government has been met with an unwelcome assault on her rights and freedom of expression. We are concerned that just over the weekend Twitter informed Ms. Ayyub’s it was complying with a demand from the Indian government to censor inside India, one of her tweets related to threats against a mosque. Twitter cited the Telecommunications Act of 2000, which gives the Indian government control over what is published in India. This version of prior restraint is unworthy of a nation with India’s democratic traditions. We urge Twitter to restore her account at once,” Jen Judson said in a statement.
Aubuchon Award honorees do not simply receive recognition and a prize. By selecting Rana Ayyub, the Club is committing to monitor and support her case and do what we can to ensure her freedom including her freedom to publish.
Past Aubuchon honorees include Maria Ressa, Jason Rezaian, Austin Tice, Marie Colvin, Jamal Kashoggi, Emilio Gutierrez-Soto, and last year Danny Fenster and Haze Fan, it said.
Rana Ayyub, in a tweet, thanked the committee and dedicated the award to arrested journalists including Asif Sultan.