World Service journalist wins European Commission radio prize

A journalist with the BBC World Service has been awarded a special radio prize by the European Commission for his reports from Guinea.

Mark Doyle took the category prize for his work Guinea on the Brink, a programme that focused on an attack by government troops on pro-democracy demonstrators in the country in 2009 and highlighted potential human rights abuses.

Doyle received his award last night as part of the Lorenzo Natali Prize, set up by the European Commission in 1992 to recognise journalists who work for the defence of human rights, democracy and development.

From more than 1,100 entries, winners were selected in eight categories, divided into special awards and regional distinctions.

Nicaraguan journalist Yader Francisco Luna Garcia took the Grand Prize of €5,000 for his article 'Palabra de Mujer' or 'Woman's Word' pubished by La Brujala Semanal, which he publishes and edits. The piece looked at a small radio station in the centre of Nicaraguan operated by women that broadcasts details of men who beat their wives.

A full list of the winners is published below. The Special TV and Special Radio Prize winners received €5,000 each, while first prize winners in each category were awarded €5,000 each, with €2,500 for second place and €1,500 for third.

Grand Prize
Yader Francisco Luna Garcia, 'Palabra de Mujer', La Brújula Semanal, Nicaragua

Africa
1st Prize
Kipchumba Some, 'Police Executions: Dark Secrets Revealed', Standard Media Group, Kenya

2nd Prize
Théodore Kouadio, 'Enlèvements d'enfants: La Côte d’Ivoire a nécessairement besoin d’une loi', Fratmat.info, Ivory Coast

3rd Prize
Charles Ngah Nforgang, 'Libye: des Africaines prostituées par d'autres Africaines', Jade Cameroun, Cameroon,

Arab World & the Middle East
1st Prize
Manar Attiya Salem, 'Aya ouvre une breche', Journal Al-Ahram, Egypt

2nd Prize
Adama Wade, 'Le scandale du cacao ivoirien', Les Afriques, Morocco

3rd Prize
Abdelkarim Chankou, 'Milouda en danger de mort?', Citadine, Morocco

Asia and the Pacific
1st Prize
Shyamlal Yadav, 'Streams of Filth', India Today, India

2nd Prize
Chitrangada Choudhury, 'The War Within', Hindustan Times, India

3rd Prize
Nilanjana Bhowmick, 'School Is a Right, but Will Indian Girls Be Able to Go?' Time.com, India

Europe
1st Prize
Frédéric Delepierre, 'Bhopal, plaie ouverte de l'Inde', Le Soir, Belgium

2nd Prize
Esther Leburgue France, 'Le "viol correctif" ou comment "soigner" les lesbiennes', Causette, France

3rd Prize
José Manuel Bustamante, 'Las mujeres en Guatemala alzan la voz', Frontera Digital, Spain

Latin America and the Caribbean
1st Prize
Yader Francisco Luna Garcia, 'Palabra de Mujer', La Brújula Semanal, Nicaragua

2nd Prize
Solano Nascimento, 'Destruição made in Brasil', Correio Braziliense, Brazil

3rd Prize
Alberto Spiller, 'En el territorio de los invisibles', La Gaceta Universitaria, Mexico

Special Prize Radio
Mark Doyle, 'Guinea on the Brink', BBC World Service, UK

Special Prize TV
Yuk-Kuen Wong, 'Child Abduction', Television Broadcasts Limited, China

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