Marchela Turati, number 1

In Paris, they awarded the Award named after Anna Politkovskaya and Arman Soldin

In Paris, the prize named after Anna Politkovskaya and Arman Soldin for journalistic courage was first awarded. Given the explained reluctance of Ukrainian journalists to at least somehow be associated with Russia (even if it is a “new newspaper”), the jury made a very accurate and fair decision: it chose a senior journalist from the grave of the country's profession in the world-49-year-old Marcell Turati (Mexico). She is investigating the “business” of Mexican drug carters, and this is one of the most dangerous classes that you can just choose, our Elena Milashina said, who specially came to support the prize.

Ilya Politkovsky, the son of Anna, a friend of Novaya Gazeta, also arrived.

The fate of Anna Politkovskaya ( killed on October 7, 2006 in Moscow for investigating the causes and consequences of the war in Chechnya) and Arman Soldin ( the killed , according to his native agency AFP, “at about 16.30 local time on May 9, 2023 in the Yar Chasov region, the Ukrainian city near Bakhmut), which do not intersect in the time and place of committing crimes, but so on, but so “Strange” coincide if you look at the symbols, causes and even the dates of their death.

No one wanted this terrible coincidence. But the monstrous misfortune in Ukraine invaded the plans of the organizers of the award, which initially was supposed to bear the name of Anna Politkovskaya. They decided to give the prize to journalists who work in the most difficult conditions and with the highest risk to life.

And they decided to hand it to November 2 - on the International Day of termination of impunity for crimes against journalists, who was established ten years ago on the initiative from France.

They awarded the prize today in the main building of the French Foreign Ministry - at 37, quai d'Orsay, which since 2014 in Ukraine (as well as in Russia - for all those who do not give a damn) is associated with meetings in the Norman format.

The award ceremony was short and restrained. The first was the head of the Foreign Ministry of France, Catherine Column. Said:

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“... We know too well: in Ukraine, like in the Middle East, and on many other so -called“ theaters of war ”(...), journalists die, lose freedom - and only for one reason. They fulfill their duty: they work in a profession that sheds light on what some want to hide. Arman Soldin (special AFP) was the ideal of this profession - through his filming from Ukraine, he told the truth about the war ... a brutal, monstrous war.

(...) Presenting this award today, we honor the memory and courage of Arman Soldin. And I welcome his loved ones, his family, which is in the hall today. Anna Politkovskaya is another of the great figures who devoted her courage to our right to information. Patiently, methodically - despite the threats and intimidation, which, as we know, there were many - Anna Politkovskaya investigated. She listened to witnesses, found evidence, made obscenities and hidden evidence obvious. (...). All that the Russian regime wanted to hide at all costs. And she paid her life for it.

Today I want to greet her son, Ilya Politkovsky, just as the work that her newspaper is performed by the “New Gazeta”, which remains faithful to the ideals of Anna Politkovskaya ... ”

Then - after the short introduction of the most famous French journalists Pierre Auski and Manon Luazo (another of our friend, military reporter, friend of Anna Politkovskaya) - said (according to the video) the laureate of Marchela Turati. She has been writing about drug trafficking in Mexico for 15 years. He is the founder of the organization of Periodistas de a Pie - a team of journalists involved in training and support from colleagues. She also founded the Association of Russian journalists Quinto Elemento Lab.

“She always advocated human rights and against impunity in the investigations of crimes committed against journalists who have been more than 100 since 2000. Her reports on the mass murders of migrants, in particular in San Fernando, the city in Tamaulips, where the remains of 193 people killed by the Los Seetas Carthel were discovered in the complicity of local authorities, and were especially important. In order to ensure that the curtain of impunity does not fall over these tragedies, ”the application for a premium submitted in favor of the marching of Turati said.

She is known in a country where crimes against journalists have been the “norm” for decades, also as an author of several books, including “Cross -Fire: Victims of Drug War”.

And just that she published the book “San Fernando: The Last Stop”, which tells about 11 years of investigation of disappearance in Tamaulipas ... Maryla Turati has an outstanding list of journalistic merits and several awards.

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Turati marchings:

“Anna Politkovskaya said: what I am doing, I just write what I know about ... I try to do the same. Today in Mexico we celebrate the day of the dead, and I want to recall all the journalists who were killed in Mexico, killed in Ukraine, killed in the gas sector ... - said the laureate. - I am deeply excited that you paid attention to Mexico, a country that is not at war, but at the same time is the most dangerous for journalists. 150 people have been killed and 30 have disappeared since 2006. No one is punished. Half of the murders was ordered by representatives of the authorities associated with cartels. We call them "drug policy." I am engaged in what I am looking for missing, I demand justice - simply because the state does not do this. ”

The jury received a 29-year-old Franco-Afghan journalist Mortaz Bekhbudi , who, who accused the “espionage”, was kept in prison for almost 10 months. He was freed as a result of the diplomatic efforts of the French authorities, the EU and the UN, to which they were encouraged by the organization “Reporters without Borders” (RSF).