Mohammad Seddiq Kaboudvand
International Journalist of the Year
Mohammad Sadegh Kaboudvand Awarded Hellman/Hammett Grant
Mohammad Seddiq Kaboudvand is founder and President of Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan and former editor of the weekly Payam-e Mardom-e Kurdistan. He is serving a 10-and-a-half-year prison sentence since 1 July 2007 (10 years for founding and administering the Human Rights Organisation of Kurdistan and six months for his work as a journalist).
Human rights defenders and journalists are arrested, detained and prosecuted in unfair trials. HRDs continue to receive death threats and are subjected to harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention. They are refused bail or receive extreme bail conditions. HRDs are additionally subjected to systematic surveillance and their family members are targeted. Journalists have been subjected to flogging for criticising the government.
