2005 INTERNATIONAL PRESS FREEDOM AWARD WINNERS

ALAGI YORRO JALLOW - GAMBIA
As the environment for press freedom in the Gambia has deteriorated over the past few years, Alagi Yorro Jallow has been a passionate advocate for the human rights. He has worked as a journalist at several news outlets in Gambia since 1987, most recently as the Managing Editor of The Independent. He has also worked as a correspondent for the BBC and the International Press Institute and a consultant to the London-based free expression organization Article 19.

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. He is also working to end the impunity enjoyed by the murderers of fellow journalist Deyda Hydara, whose killing in December 2004 was thought to be politically motivated. Though he is temporarily in the US, he has continued his advocacy work by speaking at universities and conferences on the worsening environment for freedom of expression in his homeland.

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 losses. Other acts of intimidation have included death threats, detentions and physical assaults against him and his staff. The Committee to Protect Journalists recently noted the decline in press freedom in Gambia 2004 "a year marked by arson attacks, threats, and repressive legislation aimed at the independent media."

MYKOLA VERESEN - UKRAINE
In November 2004, the Orange Revolution began in Ukraine as a series of political protests and events in response to charges of election fraud in the Nov. 21 Run-off election. Playing a crucial role in the revolution was 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. Mykola Veresen was the anchor and became, for many, the voice and face of the Orange Revolution.

Mykola Veresen was at this time a veteran and respected journalist. He was also the first Ukrainian journalist to work for a foreign news service, the BBC reporting for them from 1986-1996. He then became a star as host of the social affairs program called "Taboo" which tackled themes that had previously been taboo such as drug problems, sex, and police corruption. Mr. Veresen is also known as one of the founders of Charter 4, a Kyiv-based non-profit group with the goal of engaging the media in monitoring and managing projects that support a civil society in Ukraine.

The Orange Revolution was successful and for the most part peaceful, but it is very possible that if it had not been Veresen's career could have ended, and he would have faced possible persecution or imprisonment. The Ukraine has been a dangerous country in which be a journalist in recent years. In 2004, 20 journalists were arrested and more than 30 were physically attacked. In the past ten years, four journalists have been murdered in the Ukraine.

THE 2005 Vox Libera AWARD WINNER - MARLYS EDWARDH
The Vox Libera Award is a new annual award granted to a Canadian who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the principles of free expression and who has had made an important and sustained contribution - at home or abroad - to those same principles.

Marlys Edwardh, a prominent criminal law lawyer and civil rights activist, was chosen to be the first recipient of this new award.

Ms Edwardh has fought tirelessly on free expression issues. She is currently one of the senior counsels representing Mr. Maher Arar at the Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Arar.

She also represented former National Post Ottawa reporter Andrew McIntosh, argued on behalf of several Toronto newspapers in defence of their right not to hand over footage of police breaking up an anti-poverty protest, and won a landmark source-protection ruling in the so-called Shawinigate scandal. More recently, Ms Edwardh acted for the family of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi who died in Iranian custody on July 11, 2003.

Marlys Edwardh is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, and received her Masters degree from University of California at Berkeley. She is a partner with Ruby & Edwardh in Toronto. She has served as counsel in a number of Royal Commissions, the latest being the Krever Commission regarding the blood system in Canada. Ms. Edwardh has been honoured with several awards including the Law Society of Upper Canada's medal for outstanding service in 1998, and an honorary doctorate from the society in March 2002. In 2005, Ms Edwardh also received the Award of Distinction from the Toronto Lawyers' Association and the Dianne Martin Medal for Social Justice Through Law Award from Osgoode Hall Law School.

Each year, two International Press Freedom Awards are given in recognition of the courage and determination of foreign journalists who regularly face obstacles in order to get the news out. Whether the threats be judicial, physical or otherwise, these dedicated and principled individuals continue to work tirelessly - often risking their lives - so that the news media remain free.

When merited, an award is also given to a Canadian journalist who, through his or her work, has made an important contribution to reinforcing and promoting the principle of freedom of the press in Canada or elsewhere.

In 1999, the award was re-named the Tara Singh Hayer Press Freedom Award, in honour of the Canadian journalist and editor of the Vancouver-based Indo-Canadian Times, who was assassinated in November 1998. His murder demonstrated that protecting freedom of expression is a matter of concern not just beyond our borders.