APC joins the international community in congratulating member and friend Shahzad Ahmad on his recent Doughty Street Advocacy Award at the 2014 Freedom of Expression Awards. Index on Censorship has been giving awards annually for 14 years to remarkable activists, shining “light on their ongoing struggle against censorship around the world.”
Speaking at the ceremony held in London, Ahmad stated that freedom of expression “is the ultimate freedom: to me it means the freedom to live, to think, to love, to be loved, to be secure, to be happy. To be able to think as I do, and to be able to express what I think is inextricably linked with all my other freedoms.”
He added: “Censorship, surveillance, curbs on expression, and invasions of privacy in the digital spaces are rampant in my country now. The onslaught is led by government – but unfortunately extreme right-leaning and powerful lobbies are the other force that we have to contend with.”
APC is proud to stand with Ahmad in the fight for freedom of expression wherever it is threatened. Below is a recording of Ahmad’s full speech:
#IndexAwards2014: The Doughty Street Advocacy Award winner Shahzad Ahmad from Index on Censorship on Vimeo.
Other nominees under various categories included Edward Snowden and Shubhranshu Choudhary. Among previous years’ winners are Edward Said, MF Hussain, Julian Assange, Malala Yousufzai, Twitter, Al Jazeera and Psiphon.
Photo via Index on Censorship