3 May 1999 marks the last World Press Freedom Day of the 20th century. This special day was officially established by the United Nations on 20 December 1993 – at the recommendation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) – for the purpose of remembering and celebrating the fundamental principles of press freedom. Throughout the world, World Press Freedom Day serves as an occasion to inform the public of violations of freedom of expression – a reminder that in dozens of countries, media organisations are censored, fined, suspended and closed down, while journalists are harassed, attacked, detained or killed.

3 May is also a day of reflection on the importance of press freedom and serves as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitments to this freedom. It is a day of support for victimized media and a day of remembrance for journalists who have lost their lives in the course of exercising their profession.

This year the International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editor and media executives, will mark World Press Freedom Day with the publication of a detailed list of journalists currently imprisoned around the world. Based on the information available to IPI, at least 133 journalists are in prison on charges related to their work or opinions as of 1 May 1999. the largest number, 13, are held in China, while Nepal and Turkey each hold 12 journalists prisoner. Other countries with several journalists in jail include Ethiopia and Syria (11), Burma (10), Democratic Republic of Congo and Kuwait (6), Cuba, Peru and Vietnam (5). A complete list can be obtained from IPI headquarters Vienna.

The IPI calls on all governments to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists jailed for exercising the basic human right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,” as guaranteed by Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

IPI will also mark World Press Freedom Day by awarding – together with the Presseclub Concordia and the Austrian Association of Newspapers (Verband Österreichischer Zeitungen) – the “Concordia Press Freedom Prize 1998” to Radio Twist of Bratislava, Slovakia. Despite constant judicial and economic pressure from the authorities, recurrent closures, death threats and other kinds of harassment, Radio Twist was able to persevere against the odds during last autumn’s crucial Slovakian national election campaign. The private station was able to continue broadcasting due to the courage of its operators and the support they enjoyed from the public and independent press.