BANGKOK, Tues : A media rights group today awarded grants to journalists in four Southeast Asian countries for their commitment to press freedom.
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), or Reporters without Borders, said the award winners included Moe Aye, 38, the Bangkok-based Myanmar correspondent for Oslo's Democratic Voive of Burma radio and a frequent contributor to Thailand's The Nation daily.
"He was imprisoned because of numerous articles which were critical of the military junta," said an RSF statement, adding that Moe Aye had written two books about his six years in Yangon's infamous Insen Jail.
Other journalists awarded the US$1,000 (RM3,800) grants were Fathi Aris Omar of the Malaysian online daily Malaysiakini dan Cambodia's Ham Kak from the independent Khmer-language Sakarach Thmei.
A Vietnamese journalist currently serving time in jail was also honoured "for his role in the struggle for freedom of expression," said RSF.
"He must remain anonymous because the authorities could take further reprisals against him," the statement said. -- AFP
