Tamil journalist JS Tissanayagam from Sri Lanka sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) has been named as the foreign journalist of the year at the British Press Awards in London. He was granted bail pending appeal by the Appeal Courts in January this year. Mr Tissainayagam denies supporting violence. International human rights groups had campaigned for his release. Last September, he was given an award for courageous and ethical journalism by the Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders.Arrested on March 7, 2008 by the Terrorism Investigation Division , he was sentenced to 20 years Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) last year in August.In almost 30 years since PTA was adopted as a ‘temporary’ measure in Sri Lanka, no individual journalist or media entity had been charged under it.US President Barack Obama speaking on the World Press Freedom Day last year had said that he was concerned about threats against the media the world over, and mentioned the plight of Sri Lankan journalist J S Tissainayagam who has been detained for over a year.