Iranian Journalist Couple Wins PEN and Oxfam Novib Award

Bahman Ahmadi Amoui and Zhila Bani-Yaghoub, an Iranian journalist couple, have won the 2015 PEN International and Oxfam Novib award. This year, the award has also been given to two other writers and journalists from Libya and Sudan. Razan Naeem Al-Maghribi, a Libyan writer, and Abdul Moneim Rahma, a Sudanese writer, are the other recipients of this award. In this context, Farah Karimi, a former member of the Dutch House of Representatives and an activist with Oxfam Novib, told Radio Farda that this award is given to journalists or human rights activists who have faced harassment in their work or have been forced to flee their countries. She then referred to Zhila Bani-Yaghoub and Bahman Ahmadi Amoui, the Iranian winners of this year's PEN and Oxfam award, as a 'brave journalist couple' who have stood against censorship. Ms. Karimi also stated during the announcement of this year's winners that all recipients are from predominantly Muslim countries and are in the midst of fighting against censorship and repression. According to Ms. Karimi, the winners teach us that fear should not lead us to silence. Bahman Ahmadi Amoui was released from Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj on October 4 after serving five years and four months. He holds a degree in economics from Mazandaran University and has collaborated with several newspapers including Jam-e Jam, Tosse, Sobhe Emruz, Noorooz, Shargh, Vaghaye Ettefaghieh, and Sarmayeh. Mr. Amoui was arrested in June 2009 along with his wife Zhila Bani-Yaghoub and sentenced to five years and four months in prison. Zhila Bani-Yaghoub, a journalist and wife of Bahman Ahmadi Amoui, was also released from prison in July 2013 after serving one year. Currently, journalists such as Ahmad Zeidabadi, Masoud Bastani, Sirajeddin Mir-Damadi, Mehrdad Sarjouei, Alireza Rajai, Keyvan Samimi, and Jason Rezaian are imprisoned in Iran. Oxfam Novib is a non-governmental organization that collaborates with PEN International to support developing countries. The joint award from Oxfam Novib and PEN International has previously been awarded to Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, a writer, and Asieh Amini, an Iranian journalist.