Time Magazine’s Person of the Year is “The Guardians,” a group of journalists who have been targeted for their work in “the pursuit for greater truths”. One of them is photographer Shahidul Alam, our colleague to whom we dedicated this year’s MEKK Safety for Journalists conference in Oslo, 5th of November. Shahidul was beaten, detained by state authorities and jailed for more than 100 days for making “false” statements after criticizing Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina in an interview about student protests in Dhaka earlier this year. After being released in the end of November, Shahidul continues his pursuit for freedom of expression and civil rights. A worthy Person of the Year indeed!
“The world over, journalism is under threat. Whether you are a teacher, a dancer, a painter or a journalist, each one of us needs to be constantly fighting.” (Time, 11 December 2018).
Picture: Moises Saman, Magnum for Time.