Toms Ostrovskis wins Peter Greste Baltic freedom of expression award

TVnet Group editor-in-chief Toms Ostrovskis has received the Latvian Peter Greste Baltic Freedom of Expression Award, LSM reported. Three winners were selected from nine nominees, with one recipient representing each Baltic country.

In Lithuania, the award went to the Lithuanian Culture Assembly, the Lithuanian Association of Professional Journalists and the LRT Journalists’ Community. Other nominees included the Russian-language newsroom of Delfi.lt and LRT director-general Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė.

Estonian investigative journalist Holger Roonemaa received the award for Estonia. The other Estonian nominees were RusDelfi editor-in-chief Marina Begunkova and RusDelfi journalist Roman Starapopov.

In Latvia, other finalists were Arta Ģiga, producer of TV3’s Nekā personīga programme, and Ērika Staškeviča, editor-in-chief of TVnet and Rus TVnet.

Greste is a Latvian-Australian academic and former foreign correspondent who worked for international media outlets including Reuters, CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera. He was arrested in Egypt in 2013 on charges of fabricating news and damaging the country’s image. After being convicted and following an international campaign in his support, he was deported to Australia in 2015. Since then, he has actively advocated for press freedom.