Kyrgyzstan / Europe & Central Asia

  
Letters

CPJ calls on UN Secretary-General Guterres to push for release of Azimjon Askarov in Kyrgyzstan

CPJ writes to UN Secretary-General António Guterres urging him to call on the government of Kyrgyzstan to release unjustly imprisoned journalist and human rights defender Azimjon Askarov.

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Statements
Journalist Azimjon Askarov is seen in a courtroom in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on October 11, 2016. A court today upheld his life sentence in prison. (AP/Vladimir Voronin, file)

Kyrgyz court upholds life sentence for Azimjon Askarov

Washington, D.C., July 30, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed deep disappointment and concern over today’s court decision in Kyrgyzstan to uphold the life sentence of journalist and human rights defender Azimjon Askarov.

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Features & Analysis
Kyrgyz journalist and rights advocate Azimjon Askarov is seen on January 24, 2017. CPJ recently signed on to a letter to Frederica Mogherini, the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, urging for his release. (AP/Vladimir Voronin)

CPJ joins letter to EU’s Mogherini urging release of Kyrgyz journalist Askarov

CPJ joined seven other human rights and freedom of expression groups in writing a letter, made public today, calling on the government of Kyrgyzstan to release journalist and rights advocate Azimjon Askarov.

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Features & Analysis
Kyrgyzstan journalist Azimjon Askarov and his wife, Khadicha, pictured during a family vacation in Arslanbob in the summer of 2009. 'This was Azimjon's last summer of freedom,' Khadicha told CPJ. (Askarov family)

Harsh conditions for Askarov, the Kyrgyz journalist UN says should be freed

On a recent morning in Bazar-Korgon, southern Kyrgyzstan, Khadicha Askarova was giving hasty instructions to her daughter about what needed to be packed. They were about to set off: first for the capital Bishkek, some 600km from where they live, and then another 70km to a prison colony where her husband, Azimjon Askarov, was transferred…

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Reports
Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo is led handcuffed from a court in Yangon in September. He and colleague Wa Lone are serving seven-year prison sentences in Myanmar. (Reuters/Ann Wang)

Hundreds of journalists jailed globally becomes the new normal

For the third year in a row, 251 or more journalists are jailed around the world, suggesting the authoritarian approach to critical news coverage is more than a temporary spike. China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia imprisoned more journalists than last year, and Turkey remained the world’s worst jailer. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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Features & Analysis
CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon talks about global press freedom violations during a Press Behind Bars panel at the U.N. (Reuters)

CPJ’s Joel Simon speaks at Press Behind Bars panel

Committee to Protect Journalists Executive Director Joel Simon addressed a panel event at the 73rd session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on September 28, 2018. The event highlighted global press freedom violations and the jailing of journalists in countries around the world, with a specific focus on cases in Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh,…

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Features & Analysis

Live Stream – Press Behind Bars: Undermining Justice and Democracy

Event scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. EDT on Friday, September 28, 2018. Committee to Protect Journalists Executive Director Joel Simon, Reuters President and CPJ board member Stephen J. Adler, and human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, who represents the imprisoned Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, speak on a panel at the 73rd…

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Statements
The Kyrgyz flag in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in September 2017. Former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev dropped defamation charges he pressed last year against independent news website Zanoza and two of its journalists, according to reports. (Reuters/Shamil Zhumatov)

CPJ welcomes positive development in Kyrgyzstan, calls for Askarov’s release

New York, May 18, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomed former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev’s decision to drop defamation charges he pressed last year against independent news website Zanoza and its journalists Naryn Idinov and Dina Maslova, and urged the country’s new administration to release Azimjon Askarov, a Kyrgyz journalist jailed since 2010.

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Features & Analysis
A man holds the Kyrgyz flag in front of the government building in Bishkek in April 2010. CPJ has joined calls for the Kyrgyz authorities to end the repressive climate for the country's press. (AFP/Vyacheslav Oseledko)

CPJ joins call for Kyrgyzstan to end restrictive media practices

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined a coalition of 28 other international press freedom organizations to call on Kyrgyz authorities to drop defamation lawsuits and to end the practice of using disproportionate fines, travel bans and other harsh penalties to punish critical media outlets and journalists.

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Alerts
Workers set up street decorations in front of the national flag in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in September 2017. Kyrgyz authorities charged freelance journalist Elnura Alkanova with seeking and disclosing confidential commercial information following the publication last fall of investigative reports on the allegedly corrupt sale of government property near the capital Bishkek, the independent online news site 24.kg reported. (Reuters/Shamil Zhumatov)

Kyrgyz journalist charged, put under travel ban following investigative report

New York, February 13, 2018–Kyrgyz authorities should immediately drop all charges against freelance journalist Elnura Alkanova, lift her travel ban, and allow her to report without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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