Reporters without Borders (RSF), 'Le Monde' and
'TV5Monde' have awarded the 2013 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Prize
to the imprisoned Uzbek journalist, Muhammad Bekjanov, and the Sri Lankan Tamil
language newspaper 'Uthayan' which is published from Jaffna.
The winners were announced during a ceremony at the
Strasbourg City Hall in eastern France where the awards were presented to
'Uthayan' editor Vallipuram Kaanamylnaathan and owner Eswarapatham
Saravanapavan. Uzbek human rights defender, Nadejda Atayeva accepted the award
on behalf of Muhammad Bekjanov, who has been in prison for the past 14 years.
Uthayan, a daily newspaper based in Jaffna is the one of
the country's few Tamil language media publications and the only one to have
kept going throughout the 1983-2009 war between the Tamil Tiger separatists and
the Sri Lankan Army.
RSF has been awarding an international prize to a
journalist and a news organization every year since 1992. In partnership with
'Le Monde' and 'TV5Monde', seeking to encourage, support and publicize the work
of journalists and media that have contributed significantly to the defense or
promotion of media freedom.
RSF together with 'Le Monde' and 'TV5Monde' also paid
tribute to the other nominees for the 2013 prize: