Press gallery honours Somali journalist

The Press Gallery’s Speaker Abbot Award for 2010 has been presented to Mohammed Olad Hassan, a BBC World Service journalist described as "the voice of the voiceless" in Somalia.

Mohammed Olad Hassan is the main English language reporter for the BBC in Mogadishu, Somalia. Working at tremendous personal risk he has kept Africa and the world informed about the situation and developments in Somalia via BBC Radio, TV and Online since 2003 when he joined the corporation.

Mohamed is the voice of the voiceless in Somalia. Due the deteriorating security situation there in the last few years many journalists have fled the country leaving a huge vacuum of credible and reliable information. Mohamed himself joined the BBC because its previous long serving reporter was forced to flee after receiving direct threats on his life. A number of journalists and media professionals have been killed in recent months in Somalia. However, Mohammed has chosen to stay in Mogadishu because of  - in his own words: ‘a desire to inform the world, to tell the truth and help bring peace and democracy to my own country.’

The Press Gallery is most grateful to the current Speaker and Hon President of the Press Gallery, Rt Hon John Bercow MP, for chairing the judging panel, for hosting the award ceremony and for his overall support for the aims and objectives of the Speaker Abbot award.

Sadly Mohammed was not able to attend the recent presentation ceremony so the award was accepted on his behalf by Jerry Timmins, Head of Africa Region and International Relations at the BBC World Service.  He revealed he had spoken to the prize-winner earlier that day, who expressed delight at his award on behalf of his family, friends, colleagues and other Somali journalists.

George Parker, Chairman of the Press Gallery, thanked Mr Speaker for the use of his state rooms for the event, and praised Hassan's "selfless, fearless reporting".

He also expressed his admiration for journalists such as Hassan who defend free speech and democracy at great personal risk to themselves.
Mr Speaker Bercow said he was pleased to host the Speaker Abbott Awards "in the common spirit of respect and recognition" of Hassan's "bravery, resourcefulness and ingenuity".

The Press Gallery’s Speaker Abbot Award was inaugurated in 2003 as part of the celebrations to mark its bicentenary that year.  It is an international journalism award - named after the Speaker who first allowed the press access to Commons proceedings – awarded annually to the journalist who is considered to have made the greatest contribution internationally to the protection, promotion and perpetuation of parliamentary democracy.

The object of the award is to honour each year a journalist who has suffered for the cause of democracy and to secure maximum exposure for his/her actions. 

Previous winners of the award include Alfred Taban (Sudan) and Jonathan Paye-Layleh (Liberia), also reporters for the BBC, as well as Michel Kilo (Syria), Akbar Ganji. (Iran) and – posthumously – Anna Politkovskaya (Russia).

The Press Gallery would like to acknowledge the participation of the other members of our distinguished judging panel:

• Lord Avebury, distinguished campaigner for human rights
• Ann Clwyd MP, Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group
• Malcolm Bruce MP, Chairman of the International Development Select Committee
• Mike Gapes MP, former Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee
• Nazanin Ansari Moshiri, Vice President of the Foreign Press Association.

The Speaker Abbot award is sponsored by Tribune, consistently internationalist in its outlook and a staunch defender of press freedom and parliamentary democracy wherever it is threatened.