The Audálio Dantas trophy – Indignation, Courage and Hope was awarded to the Australian journalist, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and given to Carmen Diniz, coordinator of the Brazil Chapter of the International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity to Peoples by historian José Luis Del Royo.
The ceremony took place at Vladimir Herzog Memorial Square and was attended by hundreds of people, including journalists, students, activists and important personalities in the country’s recent history.
The ceremony was organized by the Oboré Projetos Especiais, associations of journalists and other entities that support freedom of expression and human rights.
The representative undertook to send the trophy to Assange and his family, as well as information on all the activities carried out there and their importance. She also stressed that “The worst thing that can happen to someone in prison is to think they are alone.”
The trophy awarded is a sculpture of Saint George, patron saint of journalists, in a stylized image in which instead of wielding a spear, he carries a microphone and a tape recorder in the fight against the dragon of evil. It should be noted that Saint George is also the patron saint of England, the country where Julian Assange is incarcerated in the maximum security prison of Belmarsh in London. “I hope all this symbolism contributes to Assange finally being released from the unjust prison in which he finds himself.”
Originally published here.
