Europe & Central Asia
2005
UZBEKISTAN
SEPTEMBER 9, 2005 Posted October 17, 2005 Internews Network Legal Action A civil court ordered the closure of the Tashkent office of Internews Network, a U.S.-based media training and advocacy organization. Internews said the court made its ruling on the basis of the August 4, 2005 criminal conviction of two Internews employees for technical violations…
RUSSIA
SEPTEMBER 1, 2005 Posted September 2, 2005 Yuri Bagrov, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Harassment Bagrov was prevented by Russian police from covering the first anniversary of the Beslan school hostage tragedy. Bagrov, a North Caucasus correspondent for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, told CPJ he was held for four hours after arriving in…
Radio Liberty reporter barred from Beslan anniversary
New York, September 1, 2005— The Committee to Protect Journalists voiced outrage at the unrelenting harassment of reporter Yuri Bagrov who was prevented by Russian police today from covering the first anniversary of the Beslan school hostage tragedy. Bagrov, a North Caucasus correspondent for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, told CPJ he was…
UZBEKISTAN
AUGUST 30, 2005 Posted September 2, 2005 Nosir Zokirov, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty IMPRISONED Nosir Zokirov, a reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was sentenced to six months in prison for insulting a security officer. Zokirov, an Uzbek who has worked for the radio’s local language service for eight years, was summoned to court in…
Reporter jailed for “insulting” security officer
New York, August 30, 2005—An Uzbek court sentenced a reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to six months in prison for insulting a security officer, the radio said today. Nosir Zokirov, an Uzbek who has worked for the radio’s local language service for eight years, was summoned to court in the eastern city of Namangan…
TAJIKISTAN
AUGUST 25, 2005 Posted: August 29, 2005 Mukhtor Bokizoda, Nerui Sukhan LEGAL ACTION A judge in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, convicted the editor of the shuttered opposition newspaper on theft charges, sentencing him to two years of “corrective” labor, fining him, and garnishing part of his wages.
Editor of independent weekly sentenced to two years corrective labor
New York, August 25, 2005—A judge in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, convicted the editor of a shuttered opposition newspaper on theft charges today, sentencing him to two years of “corrective” labor, fining him, and garnishing part of his wages. The Committee to Protect Journalists denounced the verdict, calling the charges politically motivated. Mukhtor Bokizoda told…
Journalist sentenced to five years in prison camp released
New York, August 24, 2005—A court in the central Russian city of Smolensk has released independent journalist Nikolai Goshko who was sentenced in June to five years in a prison camp for criminal defamation. Goshko told CPJ today that he was surprised by the August 19 release order, which came after the prosecution agreed to…
Court upholds two-year prison sentence for journalist
New York, August 17, 2005—A district court in Moscow upheld the conviction of editor and writer Pavel Lyuzakov on Tuesday, sentencing him to two years in a prison colony for illegal possession of a pistol. The journalist and colleagues say the charges against him were politically motivated and filed in retaliation for his criticism of…