06/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - The “Samir Sassir Prize for Freedom of the Press” was set up to commemorate the Lebanese journalist assassinated two years ago and is funded by the European Union. On 2 June in Beirut, the 2007 prize was awarded to the winners in a ceremony attended by EU diplomats. Ahmed Reda Benchemsi, a Moroccan journalist for the Moroccan weekly TELQUEL, was awarded the prize for his article, “the Cult of Personality” (published on 29 July 2006). A second prize was awarded to a Lebanese student, Rita Chemaly, a researcher at the Saint Joseph University Institute of Political Science, for her thesis, “The Lebanese National Community in the Test of Spring 2005: Between Myth and Reality." The jury consisted of 9 members representing the European and Mediterranean media and non governmental organisations. (fb)