CPJ calls for Kyrgyzstan probe into 2020 death of CPJ award winner Askarov
New York, July 24, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kyrgyz authorities to conduct a thorough, independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding journalist Azimjon Askarov’s death, ahead of the fifth anniversary of his passing on Friday. Authorities have stated that Askarov died in prison on July 25, 2020, from complications related to COVID-19. But they have failed…
CPJ urges Uzbek president to lift media restrictions
January 23, 2017 Shavkat Mirziyoyev President of Uzbekistan Via email: [email protected] 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…
In message from Uzbek jail, journalist hints of abuse
News is rare from Uzbek prisons, where authorities are holding at least four independent reporters in retaliation for critical journalism: Muhammad Bekjanov, Yusuf Ruzimuradov, Dilmurod Saiid, and Salidzhon Abdurakhmanov. All four are serving lengthy sentences. Uzbek authorities refuse even to update CPJ or other human rights organizations on the journalists’ whereabouts, status, or well-being.