Today is World Press Freedom Day

Press Freedom Day was initiated by the United Nations in 1993 and is marked on 3 May, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of press freedom  principles put together by African journalists in 1991.

The anniversary this year comes …

two days after Umida Niyazova, independent journalist and human rights researcher was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment in Uzbekistan on ludicrous charges,

while BBC Ghaza correspondent Allan Johnston remains in captivity,

eight months after the murder of Anna Politkovskaya,

and against a background of attacks against freedom of speech in Russia and many post-Soviet countries, and indeed throughout the world,

Let’s mark this day as more than just an official anniversary.

There are so many people who need our help – overwhelmed by the numbers, we do nothing.

PLEASE write to your governments – call on them to press the Uzbekistan government to back down over Umida Niyazova, who is not only innocent of any crime but is also a single mother with a small child.

Please see http://khpg.org/en/1178040868 for more details

Halya Coynash,KHPG