La Voz de Bagua, the radio channel gagged by Peru, wins a freedom award

My thanks to reader 'Pen' for passing on this link.

Every year, website Index on Censorship hands out its annual freedom of expression awards. Here's the site blurb:

The 10th annual Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards honour those who, often at great personal risk, have given voice to issues and stories from around the globe that would otherwise have passed unnoticed

This year one richly deserved prize went to Peru's gagged radio station 'La Voz de Bagua'. Operating in the Amazon region, 'La Voz' was the only independent media source that dared to do something wild in the middle of the Bagua massacre last year, namely tell the truth. Because of this, the government of Peru promptly closed it down and pressed charges of incitement to violence against its owners and broadcasters that have since been laughed out of court.

Can you imagine the ruckus that you'd hear if a country like Venezuela gagged a media channel in such a way? But as it happened in friendly old Peru, it's ignored by the biased English language media channels who just hope these inconvenient truths disappear and are forgotten. So a big, warm round of applause to Index on Censorship for remembering and an even bigger one for La Voz de Bagua. Here's the citation:

The Guardian Journalism Award

This award recognises journalism of dogged determination and bravery

Radio La Voz (Peru)

Operating in Bagua Grande in the Utcubamba Region of Peru, Radio La Voz was founded in 2007 by respected broadcast journalist Carlos Flores Borja and his sons. The aim of the station is to broadcast cultural programmes and information about environmental protection and human rights, fight political corruption and support local communities. Radio La Voz lost its licence in June 2009 after the government accused the station of ‘supporting violence against security forces’ when deadly clashes shook the area in mid-2009. Thirty-four people were killed as Amazonian communities protested about the opening up of huge tracts of land to foreign investment. To date no government representative has offered any evidence to support the veracity of its allegation against the radio station. Flores Borja says that La Voz was only doing its duty as an independent media source. He claims “the government took advantage of the moment to silence a voice critical of its policies”. On 16 February 2010, the case against Radio La Voz was dropped.