CPJ is honored to present its 2017 International Press Freedom Award to Afrah Nasser, a Yemeni reporter and blogger living in exile in Sweden.
Afrah Nasser, an award-winning exiled Yemeni independent reporter and blogger, reports from Sweden on human rights violations, women’s issues, and press freedom in her home country.
Nasser began contributing to the Yemen Times in 2004 and worked as a reporter for the Yemen Observer in 2008. In 2011, as the uprising began in Yemen, she started blogging about human rights violations and gender issues in the country.
Nasser began receiving death threats in connection with her blogs and stories that were critical of the regime during the 2011 uprising in Yemen. She was also threatened by regime supporters. An April 27, 2011, story she wrote, called “Sorry I won’t let you shush me,” details the warnings she got from people to be “extra cautious” and “not say provocative stuff.” Her response: “Sorry I’m not scared to put my real name out there / Sorry I’m not silent / Sorry I’m still lifting my head high and staying strong.”
In 2011, while at a training session in Sweden, Nasser decided to apply for asylum. She became a political refugee in Sweden that year. From exile, she continues to report on Yemen’s political affairs as a freelance journalist.
Nasser’s work has appeared in outlets including Al-Jazeera English, CNN, The National, Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Middle East Eye, and The Huffington Post. Her work can also be found on her blog.
Nasser has received the 2016 Pennskaft Prize and the 2014 Dawit Isaak Prize, and has been named twice as one of the 100 most influential Arabs by the Arabian Business news website.
Stay connected! Follow CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program on Twitter for updates on Nasser’s case. Click here to see CPJ’s coverage of Yemen.
CPJ’s 2017 Awards
Ahmed Abba, Cameroon
Patricia Mayorga, Mexico
Pravit Rojanaphruk, Thailand
Judy Woodruff, Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award