Last week the May Chidiac Foundation (MCF) Media Awards Ceremony 2017 gathered prominent Arabs and international figures in journalism and media along with highly distinguished guests from various sectors and industries.
The foundation awarded exceptional journalists and media practitioners who have inspired drastic changes in these fields and confronted major challenges while assuming their journalistic tasks. Among the awardees figures the Sudanese author Daoud Ibrahim Hari who received an award for his ‘exceptional journalistic courage’ during his work as translator and guide for NGOs and journalists.
We can read on Radio Dabanga website that Hari dedicated the award to journalists who risk their lives in order to convey the truth to people. He also dedicated his award to his sister who was killed in Um Baru locality on 21 August, “by a member of the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces”, as Hari himself reported to the New York Times. His sister left five children behind. “I can testify that this rebranded Janjaweed militia is not a source of stability, but an agent of death and destruction,” he said.
Radio Dabanga writes:
Hari decided to help Phil Cox on his investigation following an Amnesty International report about the alleged use of chemical weapons which killed an estimated 200 to 250 people in Jebel Marra between January and August 2016. While in Darfur, the two filmmakers were abducted by members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and tortured in detention.
Congratulations to Daoud Ibrahim Hari for his brave, courageous work.
Other awardees are:
Sheikh Waleed Al Ibrahim, MBC Group Chairman, KSA
Ms. Christine Ockrent, TV personality, Journalist & writer, France
Mr. Amr Adib, Senior TV host on Ontv, Egypt
Ms. Janine Di Giovanni, Middle East Editor, Newsweek, USA
Phil Cox, UK – Daoud Hari, Sudan – Giovanna Stoppini, Italy; Native Voice Films Team
