Dalai Lama receives German Media Prize

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Associated Press
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Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama (C), is congratulated by Karlheinz Koegel (L), chief of German Media Research Group, and Hesse state Premier Roland Koch (R) after he was honoured with the 2008 German media award during a ceremony in Baden Baden February 10, 2009.REUTERS/Vincent Kessler (GERMANY)

BERLIN: The Dalai Lama has accepted the German Media Prize and praised the role of the press in assisting Tibet in its efforts to seek greater autonomy from China.

The Tibetan spiritual leader said he "knows to appreciate the role of the media" in accepting the prize Tuesday honoring the decades he fought peacefully for his homeland from exile in India.

The Dalai Lama was in Venice to receive honorary Italian citizenship before arriving in Germany to receive the annual award recognizing extraordinary individuals.

The awards come before a sensitive time in Tibet. Next month marks the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising there against Chinese rule.

There were violent riots in Tibet's capital of Lhasa in March.

The Dalai Lama is awarded with the German Media Prize by Roland Koch, state governor of Hesse , right, in Baden-Baden, southern Germany, Tuesday, Feb.10, 2009. (AP Photo/Winfried Rothermel)