Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji has won the prestigious Speaker Abbot Award from the U.K.'s House of Commons Press Gallery for his fight for parliamentary democracy in Iran, Radio Farda reported.
The Abbot Award is awarded annually to a journalist who is considered to have made the greatest contribution internationally to the protection, promotion, and perpetuation of parliamentary democracy.
Ganji told Radio Farda on April 26 that the international community should support the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people.
"Those who fight for democracy inside the country are being suppressed by the regime and in these conditions, the moral support of the international civil society bodies gives a moral justification to this fight and it condemns a regime that is cracking down on its citizens," he said.
Ganji was released in Iran in 2005 after spending five years in prison.
He's been on an international tour since his release, appealing for human rights and freedom in Iran.
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
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