Odd Isungset Awarded the Ossietzky Prize 2024
PEN Norway is pleased to award the Ossietzky Prize 2024 to Odd Isungset, an investigative journalist who, for more than 30 years, has led an investigation, authored three books, and made documentaries to uncover the truth behind the attempted murder of William Nygaard.
The attempted murder of Nygaard in 1993 stands as one of the most serious assaults on freedom of expression in Norway. The assassination attempt on the publisher happened after Iran’s then-leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, in 1988 issued an Islamic decry or Fatwa against translators and publishers of Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses.
The investigation is the longest-running criminal case in Norwegian history and remains unsolved. Odd Isungset has followed the case since the shots were fired at Nygaard 31 years ago.
“Isungset receives this award for his outstanding investigative journalism. Without his efforts and courage, the Nygaard case would have yielded far fewer answers, and we would have been left without the information and insights that hold significant social value,” says Ann-Magrit Austenå, Chair of Norwegian PEN.
He has written several books and produced documentaries about the case, helping to keep it in the public eye. His revelations have exposed troubling conditions within the police and prosecutorial authority and failures by politicians and the press to follow up on the case. As a result of his efforts, two individuals were charged in the case in 2018, just before it was set to be dropped.
This case is as relevant today as it was 31 years ago. The attack on Nygaard represents far more than the attempted murder of one individual. It was an assault on freedom of expression, the very foundation of a democratic society, and something that concerns us all. We consider Isungset’s work invaluable in this context, serving as a fundamental defense of freedom of expression, says Austenå.
In 2024, the Nygaard case was nearly dropped again before the decision was ultimately reversed by the Director of Public Prosecutions in July.
Read more about award’s justification.
The Ossietzky Prize 2024 will be awarded on November 15, 2024, at Sentralen in Oslo.
ABOUT THE Ossietzky PRIZE
The Ossietzky Prize is awarded by PEN Norway and is named after the German journalist Carl von Ossietzky. The prize recognizes individuals or groups with ties to Norway who have made outstanding contributions to freedom of expression. The Ossietzky Prize is awarded on Imprisoned Writers’ Day, November 15.
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E-mail: siri@norskpen.no
