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The Rory Peck Trust is totally independent and relies on income from grants, sponsorship, and charitable donations
Recent beneficiaries
Here are just some of the freelancers and families who have been recently supported by The Rory Peck Trust.
There are many others whose identity we cannot reveal because to do so may put them at risk.
Afranio Franco
TV Journalist, Colombia. In Crisis.
Colombian journalist and filmmaker Afranio Franco lost the tools of his livelihood when he was accosted by two gunmen who identified themselves as FARC guerrillas. Unhappy at the material that Afranio had been filming that day, the gunmen...
Leonilo Milla
Radio Journalist, Philippines. Killed 2008.
Journalists in the Philippines have paid a high price for democracy. According to figures from the Centre for Media Freedom and Responsibility, 40 have been killed there since 2001 and it is widely regarded as one of the worst places in the...
Wirkwa Eric Tayu
Journalist, West Africa. In exile.
37 year old Wirkwa Eric Tayu is a well known freelance journalist in Cameroon. He spent many years working for national media organisations and publications like the Chronicle, City Times and The Guardian Post and was editor and publisher of...
Osama Sa'eed Silwadi
Photojournalist, Occupied Palestinian Territories. Injured.
Osama Sa'eed Silwadi was taking cover in his Ramallah office last October when he was shot in the back by unidentified gunmen firing into the air. At 35 years old, Osama was paralysed and is unlikely to walk again. Confined to a wheelchair and...
Clifford Derrick
Cameraman, South Africa. In Crisis.
2008 Rory Peck finalist Clifford Derrick was forced to flee Kenya when he was discovered infiltrating a pro-government militia for a news report. He was tortured for three hours and left fearing for his safety. Clifford was finding it difficult...
Sayed Agha (fixer/driver) and Ajmal Naqshbandi (journalist)
Afghanistan. Killed 2007.
Sayed Agha (pictured here) worked as a freelance driver and fixer for foreign journalists in Afghanistan. One of these, journalist Con Coughlan, said, “for men like Sayed, becoming known as someone who works with foreigners is a permanent...
Sarwa Abdul Wahab Al Darwish
TV journalist, Iraq. Killed 2007
Sarwa Abdul Wahab Al Darwish was a freelance Iraqi television journalist and photojournalist from Mosul. Determined to make something of her life after the war and years of sanctions, she had trained as a lawyer and was the only woman from...
Raed Athamneh
Fixer, Gaza. In Crisis.
Raed Athemneh has worked with many of the world’s leading media organisations covering breaking news and investigative features in Gaza. The work he has helped to produce has been broadcast internationally, on BBC, Aljazeera and ARD, and made...
Mushfig Huseynov
Journalist, Azerbaijan. In Prison.
Mushfig Huseynov was one of Azerbaijan’s most high profile freelance journalists, reporting regularly on government corruption and lawlessness. In July 2007, he was arrested, accused of bribe-taking and – despite evidence to the contrary...
Marcus Bensmann
TV and Print Journalist, Germany. Injured.
When German freelancer Marcus Bensmann was viciously attacked in Kazakhstan, he was lucky to survive. Marcus – an investigative journalist who had lived and worked in Central Asia for more than ten years covering stories for German newspapers...
