Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recently unveiled its roster of awardees for the 34th Press Freedom Awards, naming outstanding media practitioners from Myanmar, Gaza, Argentina, Mozambique and Guinea.
The RSF Press Freedom Awards takes place annually to “recognise the work of journalists and media outlets that have made a significant contribution to defending and promoting press freedom worldwide.”
Nominees compete in five categories, namely Courage, Impact, Independence, the Lucas Dolega–SAIF Photo Prize and the RSF–Mohamed Maiga African Investigative Journalism Prize.
For this year’s edition, 21 journalists and photojournalists, five media outlets, one advocate for the right to information and a journalists’ defence collective – all from a total of 25 different countries – were nominated.
But only five names made it to the ceremony on June 1 in Marseille, France.
Sai Zaw Thaike (Myanmar) – The Courage Prize
Zaw Thaike, who is serving a 20-year jail term with hard labour for “treason” in Myanmar since 2023, has been awarded the Courage Prize “for documenting human rights violations” in the conflict-torn Southeast Asian nation.
“After the military coup in 2021, he became one of the country’s most threatened journalists,” RSF said, referring to the overturning of the civilian government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi five years ago.
“Despite the risks, he chose to stay and continued to clandestinely document the violent repression carried out by the junta,” RSF added.
It recalled Za Thaike’s arrest in Rakhine state in May 2023, when he was covering “the devastation caused by one of the most powerful cyclones ever recorded” in Myanmar.
“He is currently being held in the notorious Insein Prison in Yangon, where he is tortured by prison authorities,” it said.
Carlitos Cadangue (Mozambique) – The Impact Prize
Cadangue, one of the two African RSF Press Freedom awardees this year, was honoured for his extensive investigation into “the devastating effects of illegal mining, from pollution to lost crops to public health risks” in rural Mozambique.
“His work has made waves, prompting a response from the authorities,” RSF said.
It recalled that in September 2025, the Mozambican government ordered the suspension of mining activities in the province of Manica, prompting companies in concern to call Cadangue “threateningly.”
“The journalist… received warnings that escalated into direct threats from local leaders,” RSF said. “He survived an attempted assassination on 4 February.”
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Julia Mengolini (Argentina) – The Independence Prize
In the course of her duty, Mengolini was subjected in 2025 “to deepfake pornography, death and sexual threats, co-ordinated online harassment and criminal defamation proceedings initiated by President Javier Milei,” as part of “a large-scale intimidation campaign,” RSF said.
Despite the ongoing harassment, “she has remained outspoken… and continued her journalistic work,” according to the press freedom advocate.
Mengolini’s case, it added, “has come to symbolise the escalation of attacks against news workers in the country, and has helped expose the patterns of coordinated intimidation against the press – illustrating how journalism helps confront systemic threats to freedom of information.”
Habib Marouane Camara (Guinea) – The African Investigative Journalism Prize
Camara was given the award nearly two years after his alleged abduction in December 2024.
The news website administrator, who remains missing today, was forcibly removed from the vehicle by “armed men wearing Guinean gendarmerie outfits… then knocked unconscious with batons and sent to an unknown destination,” RSF recounted.
While it was reported that Camara had been under the state’s surveillance prior to his disappearance, authorities are still denying being the perpetrators behind his disappearance, it said.
Dedicated to Malian investigative journalist Mohamed Maiga, who disappeared and died mysteriously 40 years ago, RSF’s African Investigative Journalism Prize intends to recognise media forces with an equal dedication to social justice in Africa.
Abdul Hakim Abu Riash (Palestine) – The Lucas Dolega-SAIF Photo Prize
His 2025 documentary series “Gaza’s Agony: War, Hunger, and Loss,” has brought Riash the Lucas Dolega-SAIF Photo Prize, which aims to recognise a photojournalist “who, through their personal commitment, their involvement in the field and the quality of their work, has made a significant contribution to the defence or promotion of press freedom worldwide.”
Riash depicted in the said series “the humanitarian crisis tearing apart the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip,” RSF said.
His work encapsulated “bombardments by the Israeli armed forces, overwhelmed hospitals and a severe food crisis, while rescue workers continue searching for missing persons in the rubble despite a lack of resources,” it added.
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