Competition, prize and other information

COMPETITION

CALL FOR APPLICANTS FOR OXFORD MOOT COURT IN DEFENCE OF FREE EXPRESSION

The Programme for Comparative Media Law and Policy at Oxford has announced
the publication of the 2010 case for the Monroe E. Price Media Law Moot
Court Competition. Students will have four months to research and formulate
arguments from both the applicant's and the government's perspective,
before submitting the written memorials. The finals take place at Oxford
University in March 2010.

The moot court competition is designed to stimulate an interest in media
law and policy among students of law and other disciplines who intend to
cultivate expertise in arguing a case before an international bench of
judges. The international nature of the competition allows students to
learn from legal systems different from their own by working on comparative
studies and research of regional and international standards to inform
their own arguments and writing.

Participants will function in a world where a Universal Court of Human
Rights has been established to ensure that citizens of the United Nations
are enjoying the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR). In this world, the Universal Court replaces all
jurisdictions of all other regional courts and becomes the final
adjudicator when all national options have been exhausted.

Registration deadline: 30 November 2009.

For more information, please contact Louise Scott at louise.scott (@)
csls.ox.ac.uk or tel: +44 1865 284252.

More on the web:
- Case for 2010: http://pricemootcourt.socleg.ox.ac.uk/
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AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

HONOURS PERSECUTED JOURNALISTS AND NEWS OUTLET

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) is honouring reporter Jila
Baniyaghoub of Iran and the Russian news outlet "Novaya Gazeta" with the
2009 International Press Freedom Award for "extraordinary courage and
overcoming tremendous odds to report the news." CJFE is also honouring
Canadian writer and journalist Terry Gould for his documentation of attacks
on the media, despite great personal risk, with the Tara Singh Hayer
Memorial Award.

"Novaya Gazeta" is an independent newspaper in Russia that challenges the
state and uncovers corruption and human rights abuses. Four of its
journalists have been murdered. Other journalists on staff have been
beaten, arrested and continue to be watched closely by the police. Unbowed,
editor Dmitry Muratov and deputy editor Sergei Sokolov continue to publish.

Jila Baniyaghoub is an Iranian editor, journalist and women's rights
activist who has been beaten, arrested and imprisoned for covering women's
rights and state oppression. Recently, she was arrested in the sweep of
dissenting voices in Iran following the disputed June elections.

Terry Gould is a freelance investigative journalist and author of "Murder
without Borders: Dying for the Story in the World's Most Dangerous Places."
This recent book looks at impunity, media repression and censorship,
examining the lives of seven journalists killed because of their work.
Gould travelled to some of the most dangerous countries for journalists:
Colombia, Russia, Philippines, Bangladesh and Iraq to interview the
journalists' families, friends and sometimes their murderers.

The 12th Annual International Press Freedom Awards Gala takes place on 9
December in Toronto.

In addition, on 27 October, CJFE saluted Paul Pritchard with the first CJFE
Citizen Journalism Award. Pritchard filmed four police officers using a
taser on Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski in 2007, which resulted in
Dziekanski's death. "Without the tape we wouldn't have had the journalistic
investigation, the year-long inquiry into the incident, and we wouldn't
have seen the safer use of the taser by police departments across the
country," said CJFE.

Related stories on IFEX.org:
- CJFE honours two journalists and Russian news outlet with 12th annual
Press Freedom Awards: http://www.ifex.org/awards/2009/10/23/cjfe_awards/

More on the web:
- CJFE honours Paul Pritchard with the first CJFE citizen journalism award:
http://www.cjfe.org/releases/2009/28102009citizen.html

NORTH KOREAN JOURNALIST WINS HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD

The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy is honouring exiled North Korean
journalist Kim Seong-Min with its 2009 Asia Democracy and Human Rights
Award. Seong-Min is the founder and director of Free North Korea Radio and
is being recognised for his "courageous defiance" of the North Korean
regime.

The award is a show of support for Kim Seong-Min's ongoing effort to
provide an independent source of news to North Koreans. He served in the
North Korean army for 10 years, and the first time he attempted to leave
the country, he was arrested, tortured and sentenced to death. As he was
being taken to the execution site, he jumped off a moving train. In 1999,
he defected to South Korea. Free North Korea Radio was started in 2004.

The North Korean regime forbids any independent media and does not allow
Internet use, reports Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The only way to get
alternative information to North Korea is by radio broadcasts. For example,
Radio Free Chosun (RFC) in Soeul has a program that analyses textbooks,
revealing how the North Korean regime has distorted history and
information. "We urge the international community to be much more
supportive of the North Korean exile journalists who use radio stations to
defy the relentless censorship imposed by Kim Jong-il."

Kim Seong-Min will be given the award at a ceremony in Taipei on 10
December, International Human Rights Day. The award includes a US$100,000
grant to support Free North Korea Radio.

More on the web:
- Call for more international support for exile radios after station
director wins award (RSF):
http://www.rsf.org/spip.php?page=article&id_article=34926
- Taiwan Foundation for Democracy:
http://www.tfd.org.tw/english/actions.php?id=10923