Nejiba Hamrouni received the Prix Hermès posthumously
The Prix Hermès, promoting press freedom across the Mediterranean area, was awarded to three journalists from the southern Mediterranean and two from the north, at a ceremony in Hammamet (Tunisia) on April 28th.
This distinction, created in 2014, is awarded jointly by Copeam (Conférence Permanente de l’Audiovisuel) and two Tunisian associations, Med 21 and the Forum International de Réalités.
This year’s winners from the southern shores are Omar Belhouchet, director of El Watan the French-language Algerian daily newspaper, and the Lebanese writer and poet Issa Makhlouf.
A tribute was also paid to Tunisian journalist and activist Nejiba Hamrouni. Taïeb Zahar, chair of the Forum International de Réalités, awarded her the Prix Hermès posthumously. Former chair of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), and named by Reporters Without Borders as one of the “100 heroes of news gathering” in 2014, she died of cancer in May 2016.
The two winners from the northern Mediterranean shores were Antonio di Bella, head of the Italian RaiNews24, and Edwy Plenel, chair and co-founder of the French news website Mediapart.
Sources: Ansamed, El Watan, Agenzia Nova, Jeune Afrique, Réalités
