Helsingin Sanomat was awarded the prestigious Freedom of Expression Award – Culture by Politiken magazine

The charges obtained by HS journalists about a case involving the Defense Forces Message Testing Center are behind the recognition.

On Wednesday, the Danish Politiken Prize for Freedom of Expression was awarded to Helsingin Sanomat and Gazeta Wyborcza for their contributions to a free press.

The selection is based on an article from Helsingin Sanomat published in December 2017 on the work of the Finnish Defense Forces Message Testing Center. Three journalists from Helsingin Sanomat have been charged with disclosing and attempting to disclose a security secret as a result of the case.

“The appreciation we received from Helsingin Sanomat and the solidarity expressed by our overseas colleagues in our newspaper has been pleasantly accepted,” says Kaius Niemi, editor-in-chief.

“In effect, the award honors three of our writers who have been tasked with writing a story about the message testing facility.”

On Wednesday in Copenhagen, Niemi and two accused journalists from Helsingin Sanomat attended the prize ceremony.

“It is unfortunate that prosecuting journalists under the prospect of a prison sentence has placed Finland in the same international category as Poland.” That is where press freedom is being assaulted. For years, Poland’s independent Gazeta Wyborcza has been in the hands of the government.

Gazeta Wyborcca’s editor-in-chief Adam Michnik, who was already working as a journalist during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union governed Eastern Europe, accepted the Politiken Prize for Freedom of Expression.

“We respect two generations on both sides of the former Iron Curtain,” writes Christian Jensen, Editor-in-Chief of Politiken, in an editorial published on Wednesday.

The two editors-in-chief, according to Jensen, are unified in their struggle for press freedom at a time when states are exerting pressure on this value.

“Though Finland is a democratic country, freedom of expression has come under attack,” Jensen says.

Editor-in-Chief Jensen uses the example of Marija Ovsjannikovan, a Russian TV journalist who displayed a notice on a Russian news channel on Monday claiming that the press was lying about the conflict in Ukraine.

Ovsjannikova was taken into custody and fined. He is now awaiting possible prosecution and is concerned for his and his family’s safety.

Jensen believes Ovsjannikova’s bravery serves as a reminder that journalistic freedom should never be taken for granted.

“It must be earned every single day, and it frequently necessitates a great deal of personal courage.”

Last year, the Politiken Prize for Freedom of Expression was given to Svjatlana Tsihanouskaja, a Belarusian human rights activist who ran for president in 2020 as an opposition candidate.

By Editor

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