Kyrgyzstan
2010
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.
Help journalists in need: An appeal
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…
Microsoft moves to fight anti-piracy raids in Russia
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…
CPJ asks Kyrgyz president to ensure fair trial of reporters
Dear President Otunbayeva: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to call your attention to the politicized prosecution of independent journalist Ulugbek Abdusalomov and human rights reporter and researcher Azimjon Askarov in the southern Jalal-Abad region. Both have been charged with extremism and other serious charges and face lengthy prison sentences, including a life term, if convicted. Their prosecution is in retaliation for their reporting on ethnic discrimination and human rights abuses in southern Kyrgyzstan, according to our research.
CPJ decries charges against journalists in Kyrgyzstan
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.
Kyrgyz agents raid TV station, interrogate director
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,…
Kyrgyzstan detains journalists as violence continues
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.