Mauri König is a Brazilian journalist who has won several international prizes for his work on human rights abuses. He holds a master's degree in "literary reportage".[1]
Mauri König | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Occupation | journalism |
| Known for | reporting on sex trafficking |
| Awards | Inter-American Press Association Award (2002) CPJ International Press Freedom Award (2012) |
Journalism
editHe wrote a series of articles in 2000 and 2001 on Brazilian children being kidnapped for service in the military of Paraguay.[1] Three men, allegedly from the Paraguayan police, assaulted him on 19 December 2000 after he photographed a police station in San Alberto.[2] The attackers tortured him, whipping him with chains and strangling him, before leaving him for dead. However, König survived and continued to report on the story.[1] He won a 2002 award from the Inter-American Press Association for one of the stories in the series that appeared in O Estado do Paraná.[3] König was reportedly threatened again by local police in 2003 for his research along the Brazil–Paraguay border, and was finally forced to abandon the case.[1]
Beginning in 2002, König served as a special reporter for Gazeta do Povo, a Curitiba-based daily newspaper. In 2004 and 2005, he continued to write about border sex-trafficking, and a leading trafficker was eventually arrested through König's research.[1]
Awards
editIn 2006, König was awarded the European Commission's Lorenzo Natali Journalism Prize,[4] which recognizes "outstanding reporting on Human Rights, Democracy and Development issues".[5] In 2012, he was awarded the International Press Freedom Award of the Committee to Protect Journalists, a US-based NGO. The award recognizes journalists who show courage in defending press freedom despite facing attacks, threats, or imprisonment.[1]
As of 2012, König was a board member of the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalists.[1]
In 2013, Mauri König was awarded the Maria Moors Cabot Prize for outstanding reporting on Latin America and the Caribbean.[6]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g "Mauri König, Brazil". Committee to Protect Journalists. 2012. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- ^ "Evaluation of the Situation of Freedom of Expression in the Hemisphere". Organization of American States. August 2009. Archived from the original on 25 December 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- ^ "Mexican journalist wins top Inter-American press award". Associated Press. 29 June 2002. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- ^ "Mauri König". lorenzonataliprize.eu. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- ^ "In a Nutshell". lorenzonataliprize.eu. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- ^ "Cabot Prizes: Current Winners - Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism". Archived from the original on 2013-10-24. Retrieved 2013-10-24.