Officials block news outlets amid massive protests
New York, May 13, 2005—Uzbek authorities shuttered several foreign and domestic media outlets today during massive anti-government protests in the northeastern city of Andijan, leaving citizens without access to independent news about the unrest, according to local and international press reports. Authorities blocked access to the foreign television channels CNN, BBC, and Moscow-based NTV at…
Attacker: I will teach you how to write’
New York, April 26, 2005—Independent Uzbek journalist Ulugbek Haydarov remained hospitalized today after a severe weekend beating at the doorstep of his home by an assailant who shouted, “I will teach you how to write,” according to local and international press reports. Haydarov suffered a broken collarbone and multiple bruises in the assault reported at…
Journalist held on charges of “anti-constitutional activity”
New York, April 18, 2005—An Uzbek reporter for the state-run weekly newspaper Hurriyat (Liberty) has been criminally charged with “undermining the constitutional order” and faces up to 20 years in prison, according to local and international press reports. Sobirdjon Yakubov, 22, a Muslim, was detained in the capital, Tashkent, on April 11 on suspicions of…
UZBEKISTAN
APRIL 11, 2005 Posted: May 3, 2005 Sobirdjon Yakubov, Hurriyat LEGAL ACTION, IMPRISONED Yakubov, a reporter for the state-run weekly newspaper Hurriyat (Liberty), was criminally charged with “undermining the constitutional order” and faced up to 20 years in prison, according to local and international press reports.
Authorities launch criminal inquiry of Internews
New York, April 6, 2005—The prosecutor-general’s office in Uzbekistan said yesterday it was investigating the Tashkent bureau of the media training and advocacy group Internews Network on criminal charges of operating without a license, according to international reports. Witnesses have been questioned, “but at this stage nobody has been arrested,” the prosecutor’s spokeswoman, Svetlana Artikova…
Attacks on the Press in 2004: Facts
When U.S.-led forces waged an offensive in Fallujah in November and a state of emergency was declared, the Iraqi interim government’s Higher Media Commission directed the media to “set aside space in your news coverage to make the position of the Iraqi government, which expresses the aspirations of most Iraqis, clear.” Those that didn’t comply…
Attacks on the Press 2004: Europe and Central Asia Analysis
Overview by Alex Lupis Authoriatarian rulers strengthened their hold on power in many former Soviet republics in 2004. Their secretive, centralized governments aggressively suppressed all forms of independent activity, from journalism and human rights monitoring to religious activism and political opposition.