SOME NOMINEES FOR THE 2005 PRESS FREEDOM AWARDS
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Jesus Abad Colorado - Colombia
Jesus Abad Colorado has worked for more than 13 years as a photojournalist in Colombia. He has consistently worked to cover human rights violations amidst the ongoing-armed conflict. His particular area of interest is the plight of the civilian population caught in the crossfire. His work culminated in the article "Four Days in Search of the Bodies of those Massacred in the Peace community of San José de Apartadó". After the publication of the article in March 2005, he has been the focus of much publicity and was even called to give testimony before legal authorities, at the request of the Prosecutor General of Colombia. Because of this publicity, Jesus has been forced to keep a low profile, which has restricted his ability to work.

Taysir Alluni - Spain
Taysir Alluni is currently on trial in Spain where it is alleged that he belongs to an Al-Qaeda affiliated group, a charge that many believe to be false and based on his work as a journalist. Mr. Alluni has worked for Al-Jazeera television since 1999 spending most of his time in war zones. He was initially stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan and after September 11, 2001 he conducted an exclusive interview with Osama Bin Laden. Mr. Alluni survived the bombing of the Al Jazeera office in Kabul and covered the effects of the invasion on the civilian population until his transfer to Iraq in 2003. In Iraq he was nearly killed again when the Baghdad offices of Al-Jazeera were bombed by the American military. In September 2003, he was arrested after returning to Spain where he is a citizen. Mr. Alluni has denied any connections to terrorism and believes that he is being persecuted for his journalistic work with Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Several groups have supported Mr. Alluni's claims of innocence including Reporters Without Borders. His trial, along with that of 23 other men, concluded in July 2005 and a verdict is expected in mid-September.

Terry Gould - Canada
Terry Gould is a Brooklyn-born investigative journalist who focuses on organized crime and social issues. He has won thirty-eight awards in Canada for his magazine writing, and because of his work on Asian crime, he was put under police protection for several months. In 1990, Gould produced two-part CBC TV exposé on Triad gang member Steven Wong. Gould was placed within a police protection program and Wong was arrested for his alleged role in heroin trafficking. While awaiting trial, he took out a million-dollar insurance policy, persuaded a B.C. judge to give him back his passport and fled the country. In 1992, Wong faked his own death in a traffic accident in the Philippines and for the next decade Gould worked to track him down. "Paper Fan: The Hunt for Triad Gangster Steven Wong" is the result which was published in 2004.

Journaliste en Danger - Democratic Republic of Congo
In 1998, journalists Donat M'baya Tshimanga and Tshivis Tshivuadi founded Journaliste en Danger, an organization to defend and protect the rights of journalists in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since then, JED has actively monitored the country for any threats and attacks on journalists and has worked to publicize these incidents with alerts sent out locally and around the world. JED also visits imprisoned and detained reporters and holds workshops on journalistic skills and ethics.  Ethnic and economic conflict has been endemic in the DRC and Central Africa for the past decade making these tasks even more difficult. Recent rebel activity and upcoming elections scheduled for 2005 (the first since independence in 1960) have only increased the threat level to journalists.

Wilf Mbanga - Zimbabwe
Wilf Mbanga founded The Zimbabwean in 2005, a paper devoted to covering human rights issues in his homeland. The newspaper examines issues ranging from freedom of the press, to police torture to land reform policies and was created in anticipation of the Zimbabwean elections that were held in March 2005. Mr Mbanga has lived in London in self-imposed exile since 2003. During his long career in journalism in Zimbabwe, Mr. Mbanga worked as the Chief Executive of Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe which published the now banned Daily News.

Hayyan Nayouf - Syria
Hayyan Nayouf is a young journalist who writes on human rights and politics in his native Syria. One of the taboo topics he has covered has been the fate of former political prisoners. As part of his coverage for Alarabiya.net, Nayouf showed the economic hardship they face and the civil rights that they lack even after they have been released from prison. He has worked for BBC Damascus, Arab News Network Broadcasting, the London-based Arab News website Elaph.com and the Daily Qatari Newspaper Al-Rayah.

Mykola Veresen - Ukraine
Mykola Veresen is a veteran Ukrainian journalist who became, for many, the voice and face of the Orange Revolution. In November 2004, the Orange Revolution began in Ukraine as a series of political protests and events in response to charges of election fraud. Mr. Veresen was the anchor for the independent TV channel 5, a small cable station which was the sole media outlet to give unbiased coverage to the challenger, Viktor Yushchenko. The station was closely watched by international monitors as a key indicator of the fairness of the elections. Mr. Veresen is also known as one of the founders of Charter 4, a Kyiv-based nonprofit group with the goal of engaging the media in monitoring and managing projects that support a civil society in Ukraine.

Ruslan Yarmoliak - Ukraine
In May of 2005, Ruslan Yarmoliak was one of the few journalists to bear witness to the massacre at Andijan, Uzbekistan. On May 13, military troops opened fire on civilians causing killing as many as 1,500 according to eye-witnesses. Mr. Yarmoliak documented the attacks and the ensuing cover-up by the government for the Kiev based television station INTER. Two days after the massacre, during a crackdown on the media in the Andijan area, he was detained by security forces, strip-searched and almost all of his videos were seized. Mr. Yarmoliak has worked as a journalist in Ukraine since 2000 starting in radio and working for INTER beginning in 2002.

Alagi Yorro Jallow - Gambia
Alagi Yorro Jallow is a passionate advocate for human rights in his work as a journalist in Gambia where he is the Managing Editor of The Independent, one of the few media outlets not controlled by the government. For four years, he served as the Vice-Chairman of the Gambia Press Union where he was part of a successful campaign to disband a government controlled media commission with extensive powers to punish journalists. His work as a journalist and human rights advocate has not been without opposition. In April 2004, a group of armed men entered the office of The Independent in the early morning and set it ablaze with the staff still inside. Several staff were wounded and the office and printing equipment owned by the paper was destroyed causing huge financial loss. He has been living in the United States since December 2004 when he received several death threats after the murder of fellow Gambian journalist Deyda Hydara.