Go »
  Go »

Kyrgyzstan

2010

Pages: 1 2 or All


Relying heavily on vague antistate charges, authorities jail 145 journalists worldwide. Eritrea, Burma, and Uzbekistan are also among the worst jailers of the press. A CPJ special report

From Africa to the Americas, more journalists are imprisoned today than at any time since 1996. (AFP)

Fighting bogus piracy raids, Microsoft issues new licenses

CPJ has documented for several years the use of spurious anti-piracy raids to shut down and intimidate media organizations in Russia and the former Soviet republics. Offices have been shut down, and computers seized. Often, security agents make bogus claims to be representing or acting on behalf of the U.S. software company Microsoft.

New York, November 12, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that Kyrgyz journalist Azimjon Askarov has been beaten repeatedly in custody.

Beketov must be transported to trial in an ambulance while his attackers walk free. (Foundation in Support of Mikhail Beketov)

Mikhail Beketov is lucky to be alive, although I'm sure there are days when he doesn't think so. On November 13, 2008, the environmental reporter who campaigned against a highway that would have destroyed a forest in Khimki, a town outside Moscow, was beaten nearly to death by men with metal bars. The attackers made a special effort to destroy his hands and left him to die in the November cold. He would have if neighbors had not noticed him and called the police 24 hours after the attack.

Microsoft moves to fight anti-piracy raids in Russia

Microsoft's Brad Smith (Francois Lenoir/Reuters)On September 11, The New York Times reported on the use of aggressive anti-piracy raids by Russian authorities to intimidate advocacy groups and independent media outlets. The article noted that these raids are usually prompted by false reports of pirated Microsoft software, sometimes from individuals claiming to represent Microsoft. This is a trend that CPJ has documented for some time. We've recorded incidents of independent outlets like Novaya GazetaTolyatinskoye ObozreniyeMinuty Veka, and Kyrgyzstan's STAN TV having offices shut down and computers seized on the orders of lawyers claiming to be acting for Microsoft, even when the companies' software licenses are in order and shown to the investigators.

New York, September 15, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by the conviction and life sentence handed to human rights reporter Azimjon Askarov by a court in Jalal-Abad region, southern Kyrgyzstan, today. 

New York, August 12, 2010--Trumped-up charges of extremism against Ulugbek Abdusalomov, the editor of an independent newspaper, and Azimjon Askarov, a journalist and human rights defender, should be dropped immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, July 13, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Friday raid on the newsroom of the independent Uzbek-language broadcaster Osh TV in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh. The Kyrgyz security service (known as SNB) also temporarily detained director Khalil Khudaiberdiyev in the raid on the station. Osh TV is currently off the air, the Uzbek service of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.

Kyrgyz soldiers at a checkpoint at the Uzbek border on the outskirts of the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh. (AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
New York, June 23, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Kyrgyz authorities to immediately release independent journalists Ulugbek Abdusalomov and Azimjon Askarov, and to ensure the safety of other journalists working in southern Kyrgyzstan, which has been engulfed by interethnic violence since early June.

2010

Pages: 1 2 or all
Next Page »

« Previous Year: 2009 | Next Year: 2011 »

  Go »
Text Size
A   A   A
Killed in Kyrgyzstan

1 journalist killed since 1992

1 journalist murdered

1 murdered with impunity

Attacks on the Press 2012

7 Human rights defenders and groups seeking release of jailed reporter Azimjon Askarov.

Country data, analysis »

Contact

Europe and Central Asia

Program Coordinator:
Nina Ognianova

Research Associate:
Muzaffar Suleymanov

nognianova@cpj.org
msuleymanov@cpj.org

Tel: 212-465-1004
ext 106, 101
Fax: 212-465-9568

330 7th Avenue, 11th Floor
New York, NY, 10001 USA

Facebook: CPJ ECA Desk

Blog: Nina Ognianova
Blog: Muzaffar Suleymanov