Pham Doan Trang Awarded The 2022 Canada-United Kingdom Media Freedom Award

February 10, 2022 - Vietnamese human rights defender and internationally acclaimed independent journalist, Pham Doan Trang, was awarded the 2022 Canada-United Kingdom Media Freedom Award during the third Global Media Freedom Conference in Tallinn, Estonia.

Doan Trang, who spent 434 days in detention before being sentenced in Vietnam for nine years for allegedly conducting “anti-state propaganda”, was given this honor in recognition for her many deeds that champion and uphold media freedom.

Launched in 2020 at the second Global Conference for Media Freedom, the Canada-United Kingdom Media Freedom Award is bestowed upon individuals or groups in recognition of their advocacies for media freedom. It honors the efforts of smaller grassroots movements, campaigns, media outlets, or private citizens in their defense of media freedom while also serving as a way for Canada and the United Kingdom to show their support for these individuals or organizations.

Mélanie Joly- the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon- the current Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth and the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict,  jointly bestowed this award upon Ms. Trang. They lauded her actions as a “shining light” that illuminates “critical issues” and “dark corners” of society while reaffirming Canada and the United Kingdom’s stance to “stand up for media freedom around the world.”

Prior to her formal sentencing and imprisonment, Pham Doan Trang was well-known for her books on democracy and her many articles which expose the real situation of Vietnam and the harsh reality faced by Vietnamese political dissidents and activists.

As of writing, Pham Doan Trang is the second recipient of this award and shares this prestige with the Belarusian Association of Journalists who were the winners in 2020.