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🇱🇧 Lebanon /Culture & Society

Journalist Christina Assi to be honored at International Press Freedom Awards

From Naharnet · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • AFP journalist Christina Assi, who lost a leg in an Israeli strike, will be honored at the International Press Freedom Awards.
  • In October 2023, Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah was killed and six others wounded in a similar incident near the Israeli border.
  • The Committee to Protect Journalists highlighted that no one has been held accountable for the attack, despite independent investigations corroborating AFP's findings.

Award-winning journalist Christina Assi, who sustained severe injuries while reporting from the Lebanese border, is set to be honored at the upcoming International Press Freedom Awards. Assi, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent, lost a leg in an Israeli strike in October 2023 while covering the conflict near the Israeli-Lebanese frontier.

Despite being the most well-documented attack on journalists by Israel on record, nearly three years on, no one has been held accountable.

— Committee to Protect JournalistsHighlighting the lack of accountability for the 2023 strike that wounded Christina Assi and killed Issam Abdallah.

The incident tragically claimed the life of Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and wounded six others, including Assi and fellow AFP journalist Dylan Collins. An independent investigation by AFP, corroborated by multiple international bodies including Reuters, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International, concluded that two Israeli tank shells were fired from the Jordeikh area inside Israel. Despite this extensive documentation, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) noted that "nearly three years on, no one has been held accountable."

This year's awardees exemplify the determination and courage of journalists worldwide.

— Jodie GinsbergCPJ Chief Executive, speaking about the honorees at the International Press Freedom Awards.

Since the attack, Assi has become a vocal advocate for journalist safety and justice for Abdallah. She has also supported rehabilitation programs for individuals with life-altering injuries. The CPJ will recognize Assi alongside other journalists facing significant risks for their work, including Szabolcs Panyi from Hungary, Estefany Rodriguez from Colombia, and Sai Zaw Thaike from Myanmar. Salvadoran journalist Carlos Dada will receive the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award. CPJ Chief Executive Jodie Ginsberg emphasized the "determination and courage" of this year's honorees, who have faced "targeting, imprisonment, exile, and surveillance for simply reporting the news."

They have endured targeting, imprisonment, exile, and surveillance for simply reporting the news. It is an honor to recognize their commitment to documenting the truth.

— Jodie GinsbergCPJ Chief Executive, describing the challenges faced by the award recipients.
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Originally published by Naharnet. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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