Uzbekistan arrests at least four bloggers over posts on religious issues
New York, September 6, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Uzbek authorities to end their harassment of bloggers covering religious issues, and to release at least four individuals arrested for their writing. Police in several Uzbek cities made arrests between August 28 and September 4, according to media reports.
CPJ joins calls for Congress to make human rights a focus of Uzbek president’s US visit
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined a coalition of 11 other international press freedom and human rights advocacy groups, in calling on U.S. Congress to require lasting human rights protection in Uzbekistan during President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s first official visit to the U.S. on May 16 and 17.
Uzbekistan releases remaining jailed journalists
New York, May 7, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release from custody today of Uzbek journalists Bobomurod Abdullaev and Hayot Nasriddinov, who had been on trial in Tashkent since March 5, 2018. With the pair’s release, there are no journalists behind bars in Uzbekistan for the first time in two decades, according to…
Uzbekistan releases world’s longest-jailed journalist, but two more face trial
New York, March 2, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today confirmed that Yusuf Ruzimuradov, the longest-imprisoned journalist worldwide, was freed in Uzbekistan in late February. CPJ called on authorities to take further steps to improve the climate for the media by dropping charges against two independent journalists who are due in court in a separate…
CPJ joins call for Uzbekistan to investigate claims jailed journalists were tortured
The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined a coalition of 11 other international press freedom and human rights advocacy groups, in calling on Uzbek authorities to conduct an investigation into allegations of torture and ill-treatment of jailed journalists Bobomurod Abdullaev and Hayot Nasriddinov. The coalition, led by Human Rights Watch, called for the journalists to…
Uzbek journalist goes missing, turns up in court trial
New York, October 5, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for the Uzbek authorities to immediately release journalist Bobomurod Abdullaev, who went missing on September 27 and has since been secretly tried in a criminal court in Tashkent, the capital.
Uzbek journalist detained in Ukraine at risk of extradition
New York, September 27, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Ukrainian authorities to release Uzbek journalist Narzullo Okhunjonov. The journalist could face extradition to Uzbekistan, his lawyer, Aleksei Fyodorov, said.
CPJ urges Uzbek president to lift media restrictions
January 23, 2017 Shavkat Mirziyoyev President of Uzbekistan Via email: Presidents_office@press-service.uz Dear President Mirziyoyev, A month after your inauguration as Uzbekistan’s second president, we at the Committee to Protect Journalists are writing to urge you to reverse the repressive media policies of your predecessor, the late President Islam Karimov, and to dismantle damaging restrictions on…
Uzbek journalist in solitary confinement after 17 years in prison
New York, December 19, 2016–Uzbek authorities should immediately release editor Muhammad Bekjanov and reporter Yusuf Ruzimuradov, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Bekjanov’s relatives today told CPJ that they learned that Bekjanov had been moved to solitary confinement. The two have been imprisoned longer than any other journalists in the world, according to CPJ…
Turkey’s crackdown propels number of journalists in jail worldwide to record high
At least 81 journalists are imprisoned in Turkey, all of them facing anti-state charges, in the wake of an unprecedented crackdown that has included the shuttering of more than 100 news outlets. The 259 journalists in jail worldwide is the highest number recorded since 1990. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser