The 2012 Tully Award for Free Speech was postponed due to an intractable visa problem for recipient Lamees Dhaif in Dubai, said Roy Gutterman, director of the Tully Center for Free Speech.

Gutterman said he spent all day Friday and Saturday trying to find a solution, even reaching out to contacts in the U.S. Department of State.

Though the Tully Center had support from New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s office and the State Department, ‘we couldn’t make this happen with two days’ notice,’ Gutterman said.

Dhaif was scheduled to receive the award Monday at 7 p.m. in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The postponement date is still not certain.

The Tully Award is presented annually to a journalist who has faced a significant free speech threat while reporting.

jbundy@syr.edu