The Committee to Protect Journalists will present its 2001 International Press Freedom Awards to four journalists from China, Zimbabwe, Argentina, and the West Bank who have endured jail, defied death threats and braved bullets.

The 11th Annual Press Freedom Awards will be presented at a dinner ceremony on Nov 20 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.

CPJ executive director Ann Cooper, in a press statement released today, said each of the journalists has revealed stories that others wanted to hide.

"Each has been attacked for doing his job too well," added Cooper.

While Gene Roberts, chairperson of CPJ's board of directors, said: "We pay tribute to these four brave journalists who have risked their lives to challenge tyranny, oppose censorship and search for the truth."

Last year, malaysiakini editor Steven Gan was the first Malaysian journalist to be awarded the International Press Freedom Award.

Gan was one of four journalists selected for the year 2000 to mark the 10th annual awards by the committee, a New York-based journalist organisation dedicated to the defence of press freedom internationally.

The other winners were Bosnia-Herzegovina journalist Zeljko Kopanja, publisher Modeste Mutinga from Democratic Republic of Congo and jailed Iranian reformist journalist Mashallah Shamsolvaezin.

Official graft

This year's awards will be presented to Jiang Wei Ping, a veteran journalist currently jailed on charges of "revealing state secrets".

He is noted for "pushing the boundaries of censorship and aggressively reporting on the taboo subject of official graft in China's industrial northeast region", said CPJ.

Jiang is the former Dalian bureau chief for the newspaper Wen Hui Bao and reporter for the state news agency Xinhua .

He was detained in December last year after writing a series of articles exposing government corruption for the Hong Kong tabloid Front-Line .

Though he was brought to trial on Sept 5, 2001, no verdict has been announced, CPJ added.

"Jiang's reporting uncovered several corruption scandals involving high-level officials, including well-connected leaders such as Bo Xilai, governor of Liaoning province and son of Communist Party elder Bo Yibo," said the CPJ press release.

"Jiang also revealed that the vice-mayor of Shenyang gambled away 30 million yuan (US$3 million) of public funds, and he reported that the mayor of Daqing used state money to buy apartments for each of his 29 mistresses," the press release added.

Influential voice

The award will also go to Geoff Nyarota, editor of The Daily News , Zimbabwe's only independent daily newspaper. Launched less than two years ago, the Harare-based paper has managed to become Zimbabwe's most influential voice despite repeated attempts by President Robert Mugabe's government to silence it, said CPJ.

"Nyarota's office still bears the scars of the homemade bomb that was thrown at the front door from a passing car in April last year. In Jan 2001, unknown assailants blew up the paper's printing presses," said the New York-based committee.

Two months ago, Nyarota and three other journalists from The Daily News were arrested and charged with publishing "rumour or false information likely to discredit security forces" after a front-page article reported that police vehicles had been used to support violent raids on some white-owned commercial farms.

A judge, however, invalidated the charges and the journalists were freed days later.

'The dog'

Another recepient is one of Argentina's leading journalist Horacio Verbitsky, who is also a columnist and press freedom activist.

A journalist since 1960, Verbitsky's relentless pursuit of a story earned him his nickname el perro , or the dog.

"He has built his distinguished career by fearlessly exposing government corruption and battling restrictive press laws," said CPJ.

In Jan 1991, Verbitsky was thrust into the national spotlight after writing an article alleging that Argentine president Carlos Menem's brother-in-law had demanded a bribe from a company in return for tax exemption.

The scandal became known as 'Swiftgate'. Menem called Verbitsky's scoop "a journalistic crime", but the affair forced the president to purge half his cabinet and put corruption on the national agenda.

His best-selling book The Flight contained the first public confessions of an official involved in Argentina's 'dirty war' and related how hundreds of prisoners of the military regime from 1976 to 1983 were thrown to their deaths from airplanes.

CPJ will also honour Joseph Lelyveld, former executive director of the New York Times , with the Burton Benjamin Memorial Award for a lifetime of distinguished professional achievement and devotion to the cause of press freedom.