WAN has been working for months for the release of Mr Sharipov, who was sentenced to four years in prison in August 2003 for "engaging in homosexual acts" -- a pretext to silence him and stop his human rights work.

Mr Sharipov was recently released from prison but is being held under house arrest. The Uzbek authorities have refused requests to free him to travel to Istanbul to receive the Golden Pen during the opening ceremonies of the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum on 31 May.

"If the Uzbek government thinks that preventing him from travelling to Istanbul to receive his prize will lessen the publicity around his case, that is a very bad calculation and will backfire," said Timothy Balding, Director General of the Paris-based WAN. "Quite the contrary, his absence from the ceremony will be direct evidence of the repressive nature of the Uzbek regime. The awards ceremony will take place even in his absence, attended by the Prime Minister of Turkey, representatives of the diplomatic community, and more than 1,000 publishers and editors from newspapers from around the world.

"If, on the other hand, he is allowed to attend, his presence in Istanbul would demonstrate that the Uzbek government has the confidence and compassion to admit its mistakes and is making progress toward promised human rights reforms," he said.

The Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the World Association of Newspapers, is given to a journalist for the accomplishment of outstanding service to the cause of press freedom. Mr Sharipov is being honoured for his courageous human rights and freedom of expression initiatives in the face of attacks, torture and constant harassment.

Mr Sharipov, 25, was held in a high security prison from his arrest in May 2003 until March, when he was transferred to house arrest. Though he is scheduled for early release on 11 June, there are fears that he could be transferred back to high security prison to complete his four-year term if he violates the conditions of his house arrest, which include engaging in journalistic or human rights activities.

He is the founder of the Union of Independent Journalists of Uzbekistan and a correspondent for the Moscow Human Rights Agency. Before his imprisonment, he reported regularly on the state of the media and press freedom in Uzbekistan, and about human rights violations in the country.

WAN has presented the Golden Pen of Freedom annually since 1961. Past winners include Argentina’s Jacobo Timerman (1980), Russia’s Sergei Grigoryants (1989), China’s Gao Yu (1995), and Vietnam’s Doan Viet Hoat (1998). The 2003 award went to the Belarusian Association of Journalists.

The 57th World Newspaper Congress, the 11th World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo, the global meetings of the world’s press, will be held in Istanbul from 30 May to 2 June. For more information on events click here.

WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 13 news agencies and ten regional and world-wide press groups.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr.