A litmus test for Kyrgyzstan’s anti-corruption campaign
Campaigners from local rights activists to U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay are urging Kyrgyz authorities to review the case of Azimjon Askarov, an investigative reporter and human rights activist serving a life sentence in Kyrgyzstan.
Investigative reporting and Kyrgyzstan’s selective justice
At a Bishkek roundtable Tuesday called “The Fourth Estate: Rule of the Game,” Almambet Shykmamatov, Kyrgyzstan’s justice minister, encouraged local reporters to expose government corruption, local press reported. The minister said authorities would follow up on such reports, grant security to investigative journalists, and might even pay them up to 20 percent of the funds…
Kyrgyz ambassador pledges to address Askarov case
Washington, D.C., June 13, 2012–The Kyrgyz ambassador to the United States has agreed to present CPJ’s findings on Azimjon Askarov, a journalist unjustly sentenced to a life term, to the president of Kyrgyzstan after a CPJ delegation met with him today to review the case.
CPJ urges Kyrgyzstan to release Azimjon Askarov
Dear President Atambayev: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to bring to your attention a new report we have issued on Azimjon Askarov, an investigative journalist and human rights defender who was sentenced in September 2010 to life in prison. CPJ’s review of Askarov’s case, outlined in the attached report, has found that his probe and trial were marred by numerous procedural violations, including his torture in custody and the lack of any evidence implicating him in criminal activity.
CPJ calls for release of jailed reporters in Central Asia
World leaders must hold Central Asian regimes responsible for denying global access to information by throwing critical reporters behind bars, CPJ Eurasia researcher Muzaffar Suleymanov told the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe at a briefing Tuesday on political prisoners in Central Asia.
Kyrgyzstan Supreme Court upholds Askarov sentence
New York, December 20, 2011–Today’s ruling by Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court upholding a life sentence for independent journalist Azimjon Askarov on fabricated charges is a lethal blow to press freedom and justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
Kyrgyzstan no ‘island of democracy’ as it censors the press
Kyrgyzstan is an “island of democracy” where authorities guarantee freedom of speech and reporting on protest rallies is not a crime, Kyrgyz government officials told an audience. They were speaking at a May 26 round-table discussion at the Open Society Institute in New York. CPJ vehemently disagreed. We had reported on the ongoing prosecution of…
Otunbayeva must put words into action in Askarov case
World leaders like to invoke terms such as press freedom, human rights, and the rule of law in their speeches, especially to international audience. But in post-Soviet Eurasia, such high-minded words are rarely accompanied by genuine action. A recent commentary in The Washington Post by Roza Otunbayeva, president of Kyrgyzstan, is a testament to this…