Pilger wins Peace Prize

Journalist and filmmaker John Pilger has won the 2009 Sydney Peace Prize “for work as an author, film-maker and journalist as well as for courage as a foreign and war correspondent in enabling the voices of the powerless to be heard.”

The prize is awarded by the Sydney Peace Foundation.

“The jury was impressed by John’s courage as well as by his skills and creativity. His commitment to uncovering human rights abuses shines through his numerous books, films and articles. His work inspires all those who value peace with justice,” said Director Professor Stuart Rees.

Examples of Mr Pilger’s work include an account of the British and American governments’ secret ‘mass kidnappings’ of a whole population of the Chagos Islands in the Indian ocean to make way for an American military base. His 1979 film Year Zero: the Silent Death of Cambodia depicted the horrors of the Pol Pot regime. In 1994, Death of a Nation, shot undercover in East Timor, galvanized support for the East Timorese people.

Mr Pilger, who is now in London, said, “This is an honour I shall cherish, with the hope that it encourages young Australian journalists, writers and film-makers to break the silences that perpetuate injustice both faraway and close to home.”

He will deliver the City of Sydney Peace Prize Lecture at the Sydney Opera House in November. Past winners of the prize include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, writer Arundhathi Roy, Xanana Gusmão and Sir William Deane.

photo: Michael Gormly