PRESS RELEASE OSCE Parliamentarians to honour Ukraine Channel Five with Journalism Prize COPENHAGEN,   13   June   2005   – President   of   the   OSCE   Parliamentary   Assembly,   US Congressman  Alcee  L.  Hastings,  announced  today  that  Ukraine  Television  Channel  5  will  be awarded the tenth Annual OSCE Prize for Journalism and Democracy. In announcing the winner, President Hastings said that the Assembly was “ honouring the professionalism that Channel 5 has displayed  by  reporting  important  information  even  under  difficult  circumstances”.   The  Assembly will  present  Channel  5  with  the  Prize  in  a  special  ceremony  on  1  July  in  conjunction  with  the Assembly’s 14^th Annual Session in Washington, DC. Channel  5  played  a  crucial  role  in  the  events  of  October-December  2004  in  which  Ukraine peacefully   transitioned   to   a   more   democratically-oriented   and   legitimately-elected   system   of government.   With   great   courage,   the   Channel   reported   independently   at   a   time   when   the government was placing strict controls on media coverage, ignoring widespread popular discontent, and working to manipulate electoral processes. “It  is   precisely  such  credible  reporting,  so  courageously  displayed  by  Channel  5,  which  the Assembly hoped to encourage in establishing this prize 10 years ago”, said Presiden t Hastings. The OSCE  Prize  for  Journalism  and  Democracy  was  established  by  the  Parliamentary  Assembly  in 1996   to   award   journalists   or   organizations   who,   through   their   work,   have   promoted   OSCE principles of human rights and democracy. The Prize is awarded annually to one or more winners, decided  upon  by  the  Assembly  Bureau  based  on  a  recommendation  of  the  Assembly’s   Prize Committee, and amounts to US $20 000 which is raised primarily through private donations from publishing companies in OSCE States. The previous recipients  of the Prize  are Adam  Michnik (1996);  Reporters sans frontières (1997); Timothy  Garton  Ash  (1998);  Christiane  Amanpour  (1999);  Andrei  Babitsky   (2000);  Georgiy Gongadze   and   José   Luis   López   de   Lacalle   (2001   posthumously);   Friedrich   Orter   and   Pavel Sheremet (2002); Anna Politkovskaya (2003); and the Committee to Protect Journalists (2004). For   further   information,   representatives   of   the   media   are   kindly   requested   to   contact   Press Counsellor Jan R.M. Jooren, (e-mail: [email protected], Mobile: + 45 40 41 16 41) or Press Officer Andreas   Baker,   (e-mail   [email protected])   at      the   OSCE   PA   International   Secretariat  in Copenhagen at, Tel +45 33 37 80 40, Fax +45 33 37 80 30. The Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, created by the CSCE Summit in Paris in 1990, is the parliamentary   dimension   of   the   55-nation   Organization   for   Security   and   Co-operation   in Europe.  The  primary  task  of  the  317  member  Assembly  is  to  facilitate  inter-parliamentary dialogue,   an   important   aspect   of   the   overall   effort   to   meet   the   challenges   of   democracy throughout the OSCE area.