Free Media Awards
2009
Zoya Svetova - Russia
Zoya Svetova is a freelance journalist based in Moscow, where she has written for newspapers such as Novye Izvestia and Russkii Kurier.
She currently publishes articles in the Caucasian magazine Dosh and on the Internet newspaper Yezhenedel’nyi Zhurnal (www.ej.ru).
Zoya Svetova is especially concerned with informing the public about human rights abuses in Russia. She turns the spotlight on conditions in the Russian legal system and the inhumanity of its criminal prosecutions. She makes the connection from the legal situation in the regions to the country’s international commitments.
Zoya Svetova is a committed, courageous and articulate journalist.
She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. The prize is accompanied by EUR 10 000.