“We cannot have strong democracies without strong journalism. We cannot live in free societies without a free press and freedom of speech,” said Greste. “By world standards, the Baltic States are certainly not terrible, but we cannot take that state of affairs for granted. After going through the Second World War, the Soviet era, and finally independence, nobody in Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania assumes these freedoms are a given.”
 

The Greste Award recognises the achievements of courageous and pioneering work that expands and protects freedom of expression.


Nominees were considered by representatives of journalist and human rights organisations from the Baltic states, alongside the international freedom of expression organisation ARTICLE 19. The prize is awarded to one winner from each of the three states.

The Greste Award winner from Latvia was Re:Baltica (rebaltica.lv). Founded in August 2011, Re:Baltica has become one of the strongest sources of investigative journalism in the Baltics. They are independent and have been true to their mission of working in the public interest. Re:Baltica covers issues such as corruption, the activities of Russian spies in the region, Russian money laundering, and problems in Latvia’s medical system.

Strong nominees from Latvia included Vita Antstrate, a journalist from Latvijas Radio, for her reporting and development of the public media programme "Children of the system", in which she explored the conditions Latvia's children face in large institutions such as orphanages. Vita Antstrate's reporting was crucial for raising awareness and promoting action by institutions and the legislature.

Special praise was also given to the journalists Olga Petrova and Diana Chuchkova of rus.delfi.lv for their project “Kletka”/Cage (rus.delfi.lv/kletka), which tells the story of the only women’s prison in Latvia where mothers live with their children. The project has helped to fight the stigmatisation of women who have been in prison – inspiring journalism with an investigative and campaigning quality that will, in time, change lives.

The Award recognises the work that has been undertaken in Estonia with the Estonian prize going to journalist Kadri Ibrus, of the Eesti Päevaleht newspaper, for her consistent efforts in producing powerful material on difficult and unpopular issues in the Estonian healthcare system.

The shortlist for Estonia also included Feministeerium.ee – a web platform created by the NGO Oma Tuba, which publishes news and social critique exclusively from a feminist perspective. They have brought gender and harassment topics into a wider conversation in Estonia.

Special mention was also given to Kaarel Kuurmaa – film critic, curator, and co-founder of the DocPoint Festival, an independent platform for filmmakers and creators of documentaries where they can present their work, meet colleagues, and receive feedback from experts and audiences.

Given the broader challenges for the journalism field posed by the current climate of impunity, the award for Lithuania went to the Lithuanian journalist community as a whole. They are honoured for their collective effort in fighting information access restrictions imposed by the Lithuanian government, and their efforts have contributed to renewed emphasis on transparency by the state.

Other nominees from Lithuania included former “Solidarnost” activist Mikhail Maglov, an investigative journalist who recently worked on real estate and aviation scandals in the region.   

As part of the presentations, the Australian Embassy in Sweden awarded their Special Prize for human rights organizations that promote freedom of speech in the Baltic states to the Human Rights Monitoring Institute (hrmi.lt), a public advocacy organization. Since its establishment in 2003, HRMI has been an active champion of freedom of expression and information in Lithuania and the Baltics, significantly contributing to the protection of freedom of speech in the Baltic region.

Towards the end of his speech Peter Greste paid tribute to all the nominees and the communities and activists that support them.

“The winners of tonight’s awards are individuals and organizations who the jury has recognized as not only being exponents of strong journalism and defenders of freedom of speech. They are people who, through their work, have helped give the public reason to trust and to have confidence in those most fundamental ideas. They are people who stand not only for good journalism, but for a strong democracy.

But they are also brave people. When journalists are doing their jobs, they become pebbles in the shoes of our political leaders. They are irritants and provocateurs, holding the powerful to account, and so they often attract the anger of the powerful. This means pressure and intimidation. Standing up to that, continuing to work in the face of such pressure takes courage and commitment. And as I well know, sometimes it means the prospect of imprisonment. Tonight, I honour each and every one of the finalists.”

Greste Award

About the Greste Award

The chairman of the jury is Peter Greste, an Australian journalist who, while working for Al Jazeera, was accused of supporting a terrorist organization and spent 400 days in a Cairo prison. Professor Greste has Latvian roots and actively supports freedom of speech in the region.

In addition to public recognition and gratitude, the winners of the Greste Freedom of Speech Award received a symbolic monetary gift of 500 euros.

The Award was organized with the generous support of the Anne-Marie and Gustaf Ander Foundation, the Australian Embassy in Sweden, the Embassy of Sweden in Latvia, the Embassy of Sweden in Estonia, the Embassy of Finland in Latvia, the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Latvia, UNESCO, and the University of Queensland. Media partners of the Award: the Delfi news portal, the human rights organisation Article 19.