WHO: 1998
CPJ International Press Freedom Award Winners
WHAT: Press Conference
WHEN: 11:15 a.m. Monday, November
23, 1998
WHERE: Room 226, United Nations
Secretariat Building, First Avenue at 45th Street
International journalists who have risked
their lives to report the news will discuss their experiences and
press freedom issues in their countries at a press conference at
the United Nations at 11:15 a.m. Monday, November 23. The journalists
are:
Grémah Boucar, founder of Radio Anfani in Niger, a
leading private broadcast company with three radio stations, and
publisher of
Anfani newspaper and magazine, whose refusal
to allow government intimidation and harassment drive the stations
from the airwaves is emblematic of the experiences of AfricaÕs independent
radio broadcasters.
Gustavo Gorriti, an investigative reporter with
La Prensa
in Panama, is an uncompromising advocate for press freedom who has
survived abduction by armed commandos in his native Peru and continual
legal harassment in Panama, where he has lived since 1996.
Goenawan Mohamad, the founder and editor of
Tempo
news magazine in Indonesia, forced to close in 1994 and newly reopened
October 6, is a beacon of hope to Indonesian journalists in his
unwavering determination to develop a genuinely independent press.
These three journalists and two others will receive the
Committee
to Protect JournalistsÕ 1998 International Press Freedom Awards
at evening ceremonies on
Tuesday, November 24, at the
Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.
Pavel Sheremet of Belarus,
bureau chief for ORT Russian television and editor of a Belarusian
newspaper, who has endured arrest, imprisonment, and denial of the
right to report and travel freely, is awaiting permission to travel
to New York to receive the award. If a visa is granted he will be
present at the November 23 press conference at the United Nations.
Award winner
Ruth Simon of Eritrea, correspondent for Agence
France-Presse, has been imprisoned in Eritrea for nearly two years
for doing her job as an independent journalist. CPJ is launching
a campaign for her release.
Ann K. Cooper, CPJÕs executive director, will present the journalists
and discuss why they were chosen to receive the eighth annual awards.
The event is sponsored by the United States Mission to the United
Nations.
NOTE TO PRESS: Reporters without U.N.
accreditation can obtain a pass to cover the news conference by
sending, at least two days in advance, a letter with information
on media affiliation and date and name of the event to
Ms. Sonia
Lecca, Chief, Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit, United
Nations; Fax 212/963-4642; Tel. 212/963-6934. Passes may be
picked up the day of the event; press credentials and photo ID required.
