Russian journalist wins OSCE Prize for Journalism and Democracy

COPENHAGEN, 10 February 2003 - The Russian journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, is to receive this year's OSCE Prize for Journalism and Democracy for her courageous professional work in support of "human rights and freedom of the media".

The announcement was made today by the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), the British MP, Bruce George. In confirming he would present her with the award at the OSCE PA Winter Meeting in Vienna on 20 February, Mr. George said, "granting her this honour is a strong statement of the Parliamentary Assembly in support of courageous and professional journalism, for human rights and freedom of the media".

Ms. Politkovskaya, a journalist with the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, has gained international recognition for her extensive and balanced reporting in Chechnya, drawing attention to human rights abuses in the region. Her work has also been published in English in the form of a book, The Dirty War: A Russian Reporter in Chechnya.

Her investigative reporting has led on several occasions to her receiving death threats and she was once arrested by Russian soldiers in Chechnya. In 2000, Ms. Politkovskaya was awarded the Russian Union of Journalists' Golden Pen Award for her dispatches from Chechnya's second war. Last year she also received the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women's Media Foundation.

The $20,000 OSCE award is given annually by the Parliamentary Assembly to journalists who, through their work, have promoted OSCE principles on human rights, democracy and the free flow of information. The award was established in 1996 on the initiative of Freimut Duve, a former member of the German Bundestag, and currently the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media.

The prize was first awarded to the Polish journalist Adam Michnik. In 1997, it went to the non-governmental organization, Reporters sans frontières. Other recipients have been Timothy Garton Ash (1998), Christiane Amanpour (1999), and Andrei Babitsky (2000).

In 2001, the prize was awarded posthumously for the first time. It was divided between the widows of Georgiy Gongadze and José Luis López de Lacalle, two journalists from Ukraine and Spain respectively, who were murdered for their professional dedication. Last year the prize was shared between the Austrian TV journalist, Friedrich Orter, and the Belarusian TV journalist, Pavel Sheremet.

The 2003 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; and Shibsted ASA, Norway.