Dawit Isaak has won the Golden Pen of Press Freedom Award 2011. Mr Isaak, a journalist held in prison in Eritrea, has received the prize from the World Association of Newspapers because he is “a source of inspiration for media throughout the world.”

Dawit Isaak is one of the founders of Eritrea’s first independent newspaper, Setit. He was taken prisoner in 2001 after a number of letters demanding democratic reform were published in his paper. Mr Isaak has never been officially charged.

Hardship
The World Association of Newspapers writes “Mr Isaak has faced enormous hardships, yet his commitment to press freedom and human rights has never diminished. It takes courage for a journalist to work and not compromise under such circumstances.”

Mr Isaak fled Eritrea in 1987 during the war of independence. He was granted asylum in Sweden where he worked as a cobbler for many years. In 1992, he became a Swedish citizen. A few years after Eritrea gained independence, he returned to his country of birth, where he founded the newspaper Setit four years later. The newspaper gained a good reputation for investigative journalism. It regularly reported on abuses of power by the Eritrean government.

Arrest
In 2001, the government closed all privately funded newspapers in Eritrea for “endangering national security”. Dawit Isaak was arrested with 13 other newspaper owners, publishers and journalists. Since then he has been held in custody in Carchele prison in the Eritrean capital Asmara.