PACE awards journalism prize to Gongadze and Spanish reporter (05/20/01)

PACE awards journalism prize to Gongadze and Spanish reporter

COPENHAGEN - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has decided to split the 2001 OSCE Prize for Journalism and Democracy between Spanish journalist Jose Luis Lopez De Lacalle and Ukrainian journalist Heorhii Gongadze. The Prize - consisting of $20,000 - is awarded annually by the Assembly to journalists who, through their work have promoted OSCE principles on human rights, democracy and unimpeded flow of information.

Mr. Lopez de Lacalle, a reporter for the Spanish daily newspaper El Mundo, was killed in May 2000 by Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), an armed Basque separatist group, in northern Spain for his writings against the use of violence for political ends.

Mr. Gongadze, editor of the Internet publication Pravda Ukrainy, disappeared on September 16, 2000, after a distinguished career in investigative journalism, uncovering critical circumstances in a secretive political environment.

In recommending the two journalists for the award, the chairman of the OSCE PA General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Gert Weisskirchen, a member of the German Parliament, stated: "These were outstanding journalists who tried to further the values of the OSCE by intervening in conflicts and secretive political environments through their writing ... By awarding this prize we will be sending a signal against the unfortunate growing international trend of censorship by threats and killings."

The prize will be presented on the opening day of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's 10th annual session in Paris, which is scheduled for July 6-10.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly established the Prize for Journalism and Democracy in 1996, at the initiative of Freimut Duve, former member of the German Bundestag and now OSCE representative on freedom of the media. The purpose of the prize is to promote the principles of free journalism as laid down in the OSCE Budapest Declaration in 1994.

The Prize was previously awarded to Adam Michnik in 1996, Reporters sans Frontieres (Reporters without Borders) in 1997, Timothy Garton Ash in 1998, Christiane Amanpour in 1999 and Andrei Babitsky in 2000.

The Annual Prize for Journalism and Democracy has been made possible by the dedicated and generous assistance of the following donors: Bertelsmann AG, Germany; Bonnier Group, Sweden; Den Berlingske Fond, Denmark; the George and Thelma Paraskevaides Foundation, Cyprus; Southam Inc., Canada; and Shipsted ASA, Norway.

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