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ailed Myanmar journalist awarded Fo



Subject: ailed Myanmar journalist awarded Fondation de France prize 

Jailed Myanmar journalist awarded Fondation de France prize 

AFP, Paris, 9 December 1999. Jailed journalist and novelist San San Nweh 
of Myanmar was awarded the annual Reporters Sans Frontieres 
(Reporters Without Borders) prize Friday for her devotion to press freedom. 

The Fondation de France award, worth 50,000 francs (about 8,000 dollars), 
was to be received Friday on behalf of San San by another dissident from 
Myanmar living in France, Aung Ko, known for his part in John Boorman's 
film "Rangoon". 

Myanmar was formerly known as Burma. 

San San was arrested in Rangoon in August 1994 and sentenced two months 
later to 10 years in prison for "publishing information harmful to the state." 

Prior to her arrest she edited several woman's magazines and was politically 
active in the National League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace prize winner 
Aung San Suu Kyi. 

The 55-year-old reporter, who has also published 12 novels as well as short 
stories and poems, has struggled against illness and isolation since her 
imprisonment, Reporters Sans Frontieres said. 

"She is suffering from liver disease, eye problems because of the very harsh 
conditions in prison and the torture she has endured," the press watchdog
said. 

"Friends and relatives who have tried to bring food or money for her 
have been  threatened by Myanmar's secret service." 

It added that apart from San San, 13 journalists are currently imprisoned 
in Myanmar in appalling conditions, including well-known journalist 
Win Tin, who is reportedly dying. 

"Since 1962, the junta, outlawed by the rest of the world, has consistently 
and with exceptional violence crushed the slightest attempt to launch a free 
press," it said. 

Previous winners of the annual prize have included Bosnian journalist 
Zlatko Dizdarevic, Chinese journalist Wang Juntao and Syrian journalist 
Nizar Nayyouf. 

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