A KURDISH painter and journalist who was imprisoned in Turkey has won a prestigious award.

Zehra Dogan received the 2019 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Arts Award on Thursday night at the Mayfair Hotel in London.

Her painting of Turkish armoured vehicles devouring civilians landed her in jail after a judge said: “This picture has crossed the line between art and criticism.”

She continued to paint while in prison even as guards destroyed her work in punishment. Ms Dogan was released from prison earlier this year.

Her struggle inspired the artist Banksy to paint a mural in her honour.

Ms Dogan said: “It is not only art that has had boundaries drawn around it in Turkey: the things that can be said between friends, the topics you can write about, and the concepts you can debate at school with your students have all been limited by the authorities.

“Turkey’s prisons are filled with artists, intellectuals and politicians, because we reject these limits forced upon our freedom of expression and we will continue to reject them.”

Other winners included Cartoonists Rights Network International, Fundacion Karisma, an organisation challenging the growing online harassment of women in Colombia, and Cameroonian journalist Mimi Mefo.

“These winners deserve global recognition for their amazing work,” said Index on Censorship CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “Like all those nominated, they brave massive personal and political hurdles simply so that others can express themselves freely.”

The awards ceremony was sponsored by companies including Google, the Daily Mail, the Telegraph and News UK, which owns the Sun and the Times.