The Committee to Protect Journalists and the Press Freedom Committee of the National Press Club will hold a Newsmaker Event in the

Bloomberg Room of the National Press Club

9:30 AM on Thursday, November 19.

CPJ’s 2009 International Press Freedom Award Winners, family members and experts will discuss cases in Sri Lanka, Somalia, Tunisia and Azerbaijan.

The journalists are:

·         J.S. Tissainayagam is a Sri Lankan newspaper columnist who was singled out in May on World Press Freedom Day by President Barrack Obama. Since then Sri Lankan courts sentenced “Tissa,” as he is known, to a 20-year sentence for allegedly “inciting communal disharmony” over his columns criticizing the government.

·         Mustafa Haji Abdinur is a Somalia correspondent for Agence France-Presse and editor-in-chief of the independent Somali radio station Radio Simba. Despite facing threats on a daily basis that prompted his family to relocate, Abdinur has insisted on staying in Mogadishu to report on the unfolding Somali crisis.

·         Naziha Réjiba is one of Tunisia’s most critical journalists and editor of the independent online news journal Kalima—which is blocked in her own country. Réjiba has been the target of continual government intimidation and harassment including home surveillance and police interrogations and threats of legal action.

·         Eynulla Fatullayev is an Azerbaijani investigative journalist whose boss, editor Elmar Huseynov, was assassinated. Fatullayev later reported that authorities were ignoring evidence and obstructing the murder investigation. He was then convicted on a number of baseless charges and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison.

National Press Club President Donna Leinwand will make opening remarks. CPJ Deputy Director Rob Mahoney will introduce the awardees. Awardees Mustafa Haji Abdinur and Naziha Réjiba will both be in attendance. Ronnate Tissainayagam will take questions concerning her husband’s case, as will CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Bob Dietz. CPJ Eurasia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova will address Eynulla Fatallayev’s case.