The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders awarded Tsehaye its sixteenth annual prize to highlight the state of press freedom in the Horn of Africa country, the organization said in a Dec. 5 press release.

Tsehaye, 54, has been in jail without charge or court appearance since his arrest Sept. 21, 2001 during a round-up of reformers and journalists who spoke out against Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki. It is not known where he is being held and he has never been allowed a visit by his family or a lawyer. There are also concerns about his state of health.

Tsehaye began his career in journalism in the mountains alongside the separatist guerrillas of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). After independence, he became head of national television and then of radio, before resigning in protest at the authoritarian direction taken by his former companion in arms, now Eritrea's president. He then began to work for the privately-owned press which widely proclaimed its democratic demands, following the second war with Ethiopia (1998-2000).

At least four journalists have died in prison in Eritrea in recent years. RWB placed the blame chiefly on Afeworki, whom the organization called, "the highly authoritarian and obdurate" president of Eritrea.

The Arab world features in two of RWB's awards this year.

"The Journalistic Freedom Observatory in Iraq, was rewarded with the prize of Press Freedom Defender for its vital role in exposing violence and murder against journalists, and the young Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer is the laureate in the Cyber-dissident category. The 23-year-old was sentenced to four years in jail for criticism posted on his blog of President Hosni Mubarak and of the Islamist grip on the country's universities.

In rewarding a journalist, a media, a press freedom defender, and a cyber-dissident, Reporters Without Borders and the Fondation de France alert public opinion to the full extent of violations of the right to inform the public and to be informed and the importance of commitment to press freedom, the press release read.

Each prize is worth 2,500 Euros ($3,675).

Since it was founded, the Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France prize has been awarded to other Middle Easterners. Notably, Isik Yurtçu (Turkey - 1996), Nizar Nayyouf (Syria - 1998), Reza Alijani (Iran - 2001), Ali Lmrabet (Morocco - 2003).

Several laureates have been released, just a few weeks or a few months after receiving the prize. Among them, Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet, awarded his prize on Dec. 10, 2003 and released on Jan. 7, 2004 and Syrian Massoud Hamid, prize winner in 2005 in the "cyber-dissident" category, was released in July 2006.

The Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France prize is awarded by a 35-strong panel of international judges. They include: Ekram Shinwari (Afghanistan), Domenico Amha-Tsion (Eritrea), Sailab Mahsud (Pakistan), Michel Kik (Lebanon), Omar Faruk Osman (Somalia), and SIHEM BENSEDRINE (Tunisia).

The prize of Press Freedom Defender went to the Journalistic Freedom Observatory in Iraq. This body was set up in 2004, after numerous journalists were imprisoned and maltreated by the Iraqi security forces. The founding members of JFO had mostly themselves been the victim of police brutality and decided to join forces to help imprisoned journalists. This organization has within a few years become one of the most reliable sources of information about press freedom violations in Iraq.

The prize for 'A Cyber Dissident Prevented From Informing the Public Online' was awarded to Egyptian Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, better known as Kareem Amer. "One year has gone past and I am still deprived of my freedom. The pain of the experience has taught me that no feeling is as bad as that of injustice," Amer wrote from his prison cell, in Sept. 2007.

Amer, was sentenced to four years in prison for criticizing the authoritarian tendencies of Mubarak and condemning the running of the Sunni university of al-Azhar, where he was studying law.