Iran: German press freedom award for Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh

Pedro Matias Arrazola and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh win award for their "extraordinary" efforts to defend freedom of expression and freedom of the press. The 2010 Johann Philipp Palm Prize for freedom of expression and the press will go to Mexican journalist Pedro Matias Arrazola and Iranian human rights activist Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, reports the Latin American Herald Tribune, citing Spanish news agency EFE.

The prize is presented every alternate year to people or institutions that fight "in an extraordinary way" to defend freedom of expression and freedom of the press. It carries a cash award of €20,000.

The Palm Foundation judging panel found merit in the great risks taken by the awardees in continuing with their critical struggles.
Arrazola, 46, works for one of the few critical dailies in the city of Oaxaca, where he continues to fight against corruption in public institutions and against organised crime, despite being kidnapped and frequently threatened.