Freedom of Expression Awards 2014

"Freedom of expression is the ultimate freedom.  It means the freedom to live, to think, to love and be loved, to be secure, to be happy...." So said Pakistani campaigner Shahzad Ahmad accepting the Advocacy Award at this year's Freedom of Expression Awards in London last week. Shahzad Ahmad (photo: Alex Brenner) Index on Censorship annual awards ceremony, honours the bravery, and dogged determination of campaigners, journalists and digital activists around the world who put their passion and commitment to free speech before their own personal safety, who challenge governments, gangs, and corporate interests who threaten freedom of expression. Our podcast gives you a brief insight into the courage of the nominees, and finishes with a great song from Egyptian hip hop artist Mayam Mahmoud (pictured) who addresses issues such as sexual harassment and women's rights in Egypt through her music.  Mayam won the Arts Award.  You'll find more information on the Awards on the Index website. Advocacy Award nominees Colectivo Chuhcan, a mental health pressure group from Mexico Rommy Mom, Nigeria's leading human rights lawyer Generation Wave Institute from Burma who promote democratic engagment in Burma Shahzad Ahmad, cyber freedom activist from Pakistan (winner) Journalism Award nominees Abdulelah Haider Shaye imprisoned for reporting on drone strikes in Yemen Callum Macrae and C4 News who documented the truth about Sri Lankan Human Rights abuses Azadliq - one of the few remaining independent newspapers in Azerbaijan (winner) Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras  for their work on the NSA surveillance Dina Meza and investigative journalist from Honduras Digital Activism nominees Edward Snowden who leaked the documents uncovering the mass surveillance by NSA and GCHQ Free Weibo, the uncensored version of China's social network, SinaWeibo Shubhranshu Choudhary who set up a mobile phone news service in rural India (winner) Tails, a free open source encryption tool that protects journalists and sources in any country Arts  Award nominees (this section was introduced by playwright Howard Brenton, who you can hear on the podcast) David Cecil, imprisoned in Uganda for producing a 'pro-gay' play Meltem Arikan, playwright, whose play 'Mi Minor' enraged the Turkish Government Lucien Bourjeily, Lebanese playwright who confronted the Lebanese Censorship Bureau Mayam Mahmoud, Egyptian hip artist and women's right campaigner (winner)  Photo of Mayam Mahmoud by Alex Brenner Mayam's song Girls in our society are divided Into those who wear the niqab, those who wear the veil And those who are in between There are a lot of cases that depend on the girl How she dresses And how she looks But this is not the rule How can you judge me By my hair or by my veil? If one day you look at me I am not going to be the one Hiding her/my embarrassment You cat call and you harass Thinking this is right not wrong Even if these are words This is not the kind of treatment These are stones It is not her clothing that is inappropriate or wrong It’s this way of thinking which is Sometimes the clothing is too much But you are the one to blame One look can be could hurt And it is not right of you to be staring You deserve to be slapped twice on the face Femininity in Egypt is divided into two parts There is a difference between what men and women consider And both are wrong Who said that femininity is about dresses Femininity is about intelligence and intellect It is also about the way she was raised And her religiosity Girls have lost confidence in themselves Now she puts in makeup And dresses in different colours on top of each other The problem is not with the girl The problem is with the society that influences the girl every second If you ask girls if they have good taste in dressing They will say yes we have But our lives can not be described