STATE DEPARTMENT WITHDRAWS AWARD FROM FINNISH REPORTER

The US State Department has withdrawn an award intended for the Finnish journalist Jessikka Aro of Yle news service after it discovered that she had criticized US President Donald Trump in her tweets.

According to the report, the State Department has previously lied about the reasons for the cancellation of the prize called the 2019 International Women of Courage Award for her work in revealing Russian disinformation campaigns. It was confirmed that the State Department learned about Aro's tweets before the prize was awarded and decided to withdraw it.

There has been no criminal offence under internal affairs, but the U.S. State Department has lied to both journalists and the U.S. Congress about the right reasons to withdraw.

"Originally, the award was awarded to me, so I feel like an international brave woman. That's what the Trump administration was supposed to tell me,” Aro told Yle, and the State Department has not given her any formal justification for the withdrawal of the award. Democratic Senator Robert Menendez was one of the senators who had called for an internal investigation and he said Secretary Mike Pompeo should have respected a courageous journalist who was willing to rise up against Putin propaganda.

“Instead, the Pompeo Ministry tried to dampen dissidents so that they do not annoy the President, every day after day, trying to imitate (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's policies. The State Department owes Aro an apology," said Menendez, a member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

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