PARIS (Reuters) - Dissident Cuban journalist Raul Rivero was awarded a press freedom prize Wednesday but could not travel to Paris for the award ceremony for fear he would not be allowed to return to Cuba, the award organisers said.
Rivero was given the annual prize by the press watchdog group Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters without Borders) and the France Foundation, a charitable organization.
He decided against traveling to France to accept the award in person because Cuba threatened to bar his return home, preventing him from carrying on his work, the organizations said in a joint statement.
Rivero is head of a news agency called Cuba Press, one of a handful of small and illegal news organizations set up over the last two years that seek to provide an alternative to the state-controlled media in the one-party communist state. They publish their work abroad.
"A leading figure in dissident journalism, Raul Rivero is determined to remain in Cuba. Braving the ostracism of the authorities, he rejects the alternatives left open to the opposition: exile or prison,'' the French groups said.
The award, which includes a $8,500 cash prize, was accepted on Rivero's behalf by Cuban writer Eduardo Manet.
Rivero was selected by a jury of 21 journalists from 10 countries.
REUTERS
09:10 12-10-97