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CPJ names awardees from Brazil, China, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
October 17, 2005

http://www.cpj.org/awards05/awards_release_05.html

New York —The Committee to Protect Journalists will present its 2005 International Press Freedom Awards to three journalists and a media lawyer—from Brazil, China, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe—who have endured beatings, threats, intimidation, and jail because of their work.

The awards will be presented at CPJ's 15th annual awards dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City on Tuesday, November 22. Here are the awardees:

• Galima Bukharbaeva, former Uzbekistan correspondent for the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, risked her life covering the killing of hundreds of protestors by government troops in the city of Andijan in May. Bukharbaeva, now in exile in the United States, faces criminal prosecution for her reporting on the Andijan crisis, police torture, and the repression of Islamic activists.
  
• Beatrice Mtetwa, a media lawyer, is a tireless defender of press freedom in Zimbabwe, where the law is used as a weapon against independent journalists. Despite being arrested and beaten because of her work, she continues at great personal risk to defend journalists. She has won acquittals for several journalists facing criminal charges, including two London journalists arrested during April's tightly controlled presidential election.
  
• Lúcio Flávio Pinto, publisher and editor of the bimonthly paper Jornal Pessoal, has courageously reported on drug trafficking, environmental devastation, and political and corporate corruption in a vast, remote region of Brazil's Amazon. Physically assaulted and threatened with death, he also faces a constant barrage of civil and criminal lawsuits aimed at silencing him.
  
• Shi Tao has been a freelance journalist for Internet publications and an editor for Dangdai Shang Bao, a Chinese business newspaper. His essays on political reform, published on news Web sites outside of China, drew the ire of authorities. Now serving a 10-year prison sentence for "leaking state secrets abroad," Shi's plight highlights China's intense effort to control information on the Internet.

CPJ will also honor the late ABC News anchor Peter Jennings with the Burton Benjamin Memorial Award for a lifetime of distinguished achievement. Jennings learned of the award just weeks before his death in August. During 41 years as correspondent and anchor, Jennings reported on nearly every historical milestone from every corner of the world, earning a reputation for independence and excellence.

"These individuals inspire us all," said Paul Steiger, CPJ board chairman and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal. "In the face of grave dangers, they have shown extraordinary bravery, tenacity, and dedication in defending the free flow of vital information."

CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said: "All of the awardees have risked their lives and their freedom to report the truth about politicians, policies, businesses, and crime. For their work, these journalists have been attacked in various ways by powerful people determined to hide their actions."

The chairman of this year's awards dinner is Leslie Moonves, CBS chairman. Clarence Page, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Chicago Tribune and CPJ board member, will host the awards ceremony

Biographical capsule of Beatrice Mtetwa
Beatrice Mtetwa, a prominent media lawyer, has defended many journalists in Zimbabwe who have been detained and harassed. In a country where the law is used as a weapon against independent journalists, Mtetwa has defended journalists and argued for press freedom, all at great personal risk.

This year, Mtetwa won acquittals for Toby Harnden and Julian Simmonds, journalists with The Sunday Telegraph of London, who were arrested outside a polling station in Zimbabwe during the April presidential election. The government of President Robert Mugabe, which severely restricted independent coverage of the vote, had charged them with working without accreditation.

Mtetwa has worked on behalf of the Daily News, Zimbabwe's sole independent daily newspaper until it was closed by the government in 2003. She continues to defend the newspaper's journalists, many of whom face criminal charges for their work.

In October 2003, Mtetwa was arrested on specious allegations of drunken driving. She was taken to a police station, where she was held for three hours, beaten and choked, then released without charge. Although she was unable to speak for two days as a result of the assault, she returned to the police station on the third day, with medical evidence in hand, to file charges.

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