Free Paljor Norbu prisoner of ccp

Paljor Norbu, an eighty-one-year-old Tibetan printer and publisher from Lhasa, has been selected as the 2009 recipient of the Jeri Laber International Freedom to Publish Award, the International Freedom to Publish Committee (IFTPC) announced Thursday.

Paljor Norbu was arrested by chinese police from his home in Tibet's capital Lhasa on 31 October last year, for allegedly printing “prohibited material,” including the banned Tibetan flag. He was tried in secret in November and sentenced to seven years in prison. His current whereabouts are unknown.

"Paljor Norbu is being recognized for his commitment to Tibetan culture and publishing in the face of great political obstacles and personal peril over the past half century," the IFTPC said. The IFTPC was founded in 1975 by the Association of American Publishers. It was one of the first groups in the world formed specifically to defend and broaden the freedom of the written word and to protect and promote the rights of book publishers and authors around the world.

The award, named in honour of Jeri Laber, recognizes a book publisher outside the United States that has demonstrated courage and fortitude in the face of political persecution and restrictions on freedom of expression. Laber was a founder of Helsinki Watch (which ultimately became Human Rights Watch), and was its executive director from 1979 to 1995. She is also the author of a memoir, 'The Courage of Strangers: Coming of Age with the Human Rights Movement'.The award will be officially presented on 28 April at the PEN Annual Gala at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.