Azimjon Askarov Archives - Page 2 of 6 - Committee to Protect Journalists

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

September 17, 2019 1:21 PM EDT

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.

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

July 30, 2019 10:35 AM EDT

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.

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

July 1, 2019 3:30 PM EDT

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.

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

June 3, 2019 10:00 AM EDT

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…

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

September 28, 2018 2:13 PM EDT

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,…

Live Stream – Press Behind Bars: Undermining Justice and Democracy

September 27, 2018 5:09 PM EDT

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…

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

May 18, 2018 4:48 PM EDT

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.

President Almazbek Atambayev, pictured at a press conference in 2013. In recent weeks, the Kyrgyz leader verbally assaulted several critical journalists during a speech to foreign ambassadors. (AFP/Vyacheslav Oseldko)

In pivotal election year Kyrgyz media face verbal assaults from president and legal action

March 28, 2017 1:57 PM EDT

In Kyrgyzstan, once Central Asia’s most liberal country, President Almazbek Atambayev is tightening his grip on critical voices, including independent journalists and foreign media.

Journalist and human rights activist Azimjon Askarov looks through bars at his retrial near Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, October 11, 2016. (AP/VladimirVoronin)

Court upholds life sentence for Kyrgyz journalist and activist Azimjon Askarov

January 24, 2017 11:10 AM EST

New York, January 24, 2017–Kyrgyz authorities should immediately release journalist and human rights activist Azimjon Askarov and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Kyrgyzstan’s Chui Regional Court today upheld a September 2010 life sentence against Askarov on charges of complicity in murder and inciting hatred for reporting on fatal…

CPJ calls on World Bank to advocate for release of Kyrgyzstan journalist

January 5, 2017 9:30 AM EST

CPJ calls on Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, to engage with Kyrgyz authorities and call for the release of Azimjon Askarov, an independent journalist jailed for life on retaliatory charges in 2010.