BISHKEK — A bronze monument to the late Kyrgyz opposition journalist Gennady Pavlyuk, who died two years ago after he was bound and thrown from a building, has been stolen.

A Kyrgyz Interior Ministry official told RFE/RL that the monument was most likely removed from its foundation late on May 20 or early the next day.

The monument was unveiled in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek in October.

Pavlyuk, 51, who was of Russian origin, died several days after being thrown from a building in Almaty in December 2009.

His arms and legs had been bound.

His relatives and colleagues have alleged that the murder was politically motivated, as Pavlyuk had joined the opposition movement against former President Kurmanbek Bakiev and his government.

A former Kyrgyz security service officer and two Kazakh citizens were found guilty of involvement into Pavlyuk’s murder and sentenced to 17, 11, and 10 years, respectively, in October.

http://www.rferl.org/content/monument-to-slain-kyrgyz-journalist-stolen/24587773.html

Baku, 21 May 2012. The International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (the IPGA), coordinated by ARTICLE 19, has launched its website www.AzerbaijanFreeXpression.org and Facebook and Twitter profiles ahead of this week’s Eurovision Song Competition, which will commence in Baku, Azerbaijan tomorrow, 22 May.

Looking behind the glitz of Eurovision, the IPGA website examines the alarming freedom of expression situation in Azerbaijan, where journalists and others face blackmail, intimidation, violence, and imprisonment for expressing critical views.

As the stage is set for the 57th Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place this week in Baku, the Azerbaijani authorities are working hard to promote a positive image abroad. But at home they are severely restricting the right to freedom of expression and other fundamental freedoms.

«As Eurovision approaches, our new website shows that the freedom of expression situation in Azerbaijan continues to worsen», said ARTICLE 19 Executive Director, Agnès Callamard. «The broadcast media is completely dominated by the state, leaving no room for independent voices. The organiser of Eurovision, the European Broadcasting Union, must end its policy of silence and hold the Azerbaijani authorities accountable for their freedom of expression violations.»

«With seven journalists behind bars, Azerbaijan is among the top 10 global jailers of the press», said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova. «This crackdown comes in the run-up to the Eurovision Song Contest, which will gather journalists from more than 40 participating countries and fix the world’s eyes on Azerbaijan. The significant resources official Baku has poured to polish the country’s image abroad will be meaningless without implementing systematic reforms to improve press freedom conditions at home. The immediate and unconditional release of our colleagues would be a good start.»

«In Azerbaijan, journalists become the targets of violence when they stand up in the face of pressure from the authorities», said Reporters Without Borders Director-General Olivier Basille. «These attacks have created a climate of intimidation that is all the more frightening because those responsible enjoy complete impunity. The murders of two journalists remain unsolved due to a lack of political will. The authorities must take action now to find their killers and bring them to justice».

Along with its website, today the IPGA is launching its Facebook and Twitter profiles, through which it will provide regular updates on freedom of expression developments in Azerbaijan.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The IPGA is a coalition of international NGOs working to promote and protect freedom of expression in Azerbaijan. For more information about the Partnership, please contact ARTICLE 19 at +44 (0)207 324 2500 or ipga@article19.org.
The following IPGA spokespersons are available for interviews:
o Rebecca Vincent, IPGA Coordinator, ARTICLE 19, on +44 (0)20 7324 2500 (London, UK)

o Nina Ognianova, Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists, on +7 964 513 7267 (Moscow, Russian Federation)

o Johann Bihr, Head of the Europe and Central Asia Desk, Reporters Without Borders, on +33 1 44 83 84 67 (Paris, France)

To follow the IPGA on the web, please visit www.azerbaijanfreeXpression.org, or find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AZfreeXpression or Twitter at @AZfreeXpression. The IPGA will be tweeting live during the Eurovision Song Contest final on 26 May 2012.
###
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization
that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.

eurasia@cpj.org

It’s never a good time to be a government critic in Tajikistan, but this week has been particularly bad. Two critics have been violently attacked in separate incidents.

A leader of the minority Uzbek community in Khatlon Province, Salim Shamsiddinov, 57, was beaten with a metal pipe in broad daylight on May 5 near his home in Qurghon-Teppa.

Shamsiddinov told Radio Ozodi (Radio Liberty’s Tajik service) that he believes the attack, carried out by three athletic-looking men, was related to a recent interview he gave the newspaper “Millat,” where he criticized Tajik authorities for their “nationalist” position in dealing with rival Uzbekistan. (That statement so upset his allies that the day Shamsiddinov was attacked he was also dismissed from his post as deputy chairman of the Society of Uzbeks in Tajikistan.) He has also regularly criticized Tashkent’s approach to relations with Tajikistan. Uzbeks make up roughly 15 percent of Tajikistan’s population.

Separately, on May 7 in Dushanbe, television presenter Daler Sharipov was hospitalized in an attack by unknown assailants. Asia-Plus reports a suspect has been detained, but Sharipov’s friend, who witnessed the attack, says he is not certain the suspect is the assailant.

Sharipov, a fifth-year journalism student, hosts two popular talk shows on state television. Last week he announced he was creating an organization called Qadam ba Qadam (Step by Step) to draw attention to Tajikistan’s cronyism and corruption, RFE/RL reported. Radio Ozodi quoted Sharipov as saying he had recently received email threats from anonymous sources.

While there’s no direct evidence the attacks are related to Shamsiddinov’s or Sharipov’s work, they do testify to a trend in Tajikistan. Critics beware.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65378

WASHINGTON — Journalists from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Russia are among 70 individuals who have been memorialized at a U.S. journalism museum for giving their lives to their profession in 2011.

Chris Wells, former senior vice president of Freedom Forum, a U.S.-based free press advocacy group, presided over the ceremony on May 14 at the Newseum in Washington, where the names are now inscribed on a memorial wall.

According to Wells, the diverse group of journalists had been «brought together in a fellowship [that] none of them would have chosen.»

«They spoke different languages; they worked in different spheres of news gathering,» she said. «Some of them were known to millions on the nightly news; some of them worked in anonymity. Some of them knew of impending danger, but many of them were surprised.

«The common thread that united them all was their commitment to journalism and the fact that they left us all too soon.»

According to the Newseum, seven journalists were killed in Iraq last year either while reporting or due to their work. Press watchdog groups say the country continues to rank as the most dangerous for journalists.

Violent Deaths

Among the fallen Iraqi journalists was Hilal Al-Ahmadi, 50, who was known for his reporting on financial and administrative corruption. He was killed by gunfire as he left his Mosul home in February 2011.

Sabah Al-Bazi, a correspondent for Al-Arabiyah television, was covering a provincial government building in Tikrit last year when gunmen seized control of the building and detonated bombs, explosive vests, and grenades. He was 30.

Seven Pakistani journalists killed last year — Nasrullah Khan Afridi, Wali Khan Babar, Shafiullah Khan, Asfandyar Abid Naveed, Faisal Qureshi, Javed Naseer Rind, and Syed Saleem Shahzad — were also recognized by the U.S. museum.

Shahzad, 40, had written about alleged links between the Pakistani Navy and Al-Qaeda before he was found dead southeast of Islamabad in May. Police said his body showed signs of torture.

While working as the Pakistan bureau chief for the Hong Kong-based «Asia Times Online,» Shahzad had gone missing just two days after he wrote an article asserting that Al-Qaeda had carried out an attack on a naval air base in Karachi to avenge the arrest of navy officers suspected of links with the terrorist organization.

RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal reported that Shahzad had allegedly complained of threats by Pakistan’s powerful intelligence services before he was killed.

Shahzad’s murder sparked outrage around the world. Washington’s top military commander at the time, U.S. Admiral Michael Mullen, said the killing was «sanctioned» by the Pakistani government, a comment that strained U.S.-Pakistani ties.

RFE/RL Reporter Among The Dead

Also among the journalists remembered in Washington was Rafiq Tagi, a prominent writer and freelance reporter for RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service.

The 61-year-old died in hospital days after being stabbed by an unknown assailant in Baku in November.

A critic of political Islam in Azerbaijan and the theocratic regime in Iran, Tagi said before he died from his wounds that he thought the attack was related to an article he had written about human rights in the Islamic republic.

Khadzhimurad Kamalov, a prominent journalist in Russia’s North Caucasian republic of Daghestan, was also included on the memorial list.

The 46-year-old was editor and publisher of the «Chernovik» weekly, which had reported extensively on police abuses in the fight against an Islamist insurgency originating in neighboring Chechnya, which has since spread across the region.

He was killed in December outside the newspaper’s office when a masked assailant fired at him.

With this year’s additions, there are now 2,156 journalists honored on the Washington memorial, the first death dating from 1837.

Written by Richard Solash in Washington with RFE/RL reports

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/us_journalism_museum_honors_reporters_killed_in_action/24580755.html

WASHINGTON — The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged world leaders to «hold Central Asian regimes responsible for denying global access to information by throwing critical reporters behind bars.»

CPJ Eurasia researcher Muzaffar Suleymanov made the call at a briefing of the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, and repeated in a subsequent CPJ statement.

Suleymanov highlighted the cases of Muhammad Bekjanov and Yusuf Ruzimuradov of the Uzbek opposition newspaper “Erk,” who have been in jail since 1999.

In Kyrgyzstan, Suleymanov also cited the case of Kyrgyz journalist Azimjon Askarov, who is serving a life sentence handed to him in 2010 after his investigative reporting ended the careers of several regional prosecutors and police officers.

http://www.rferl.org/content/cpj-calls-for-release-of-jailed-reporters-central-asia/24582061.html

An Azerbaijani freelance reporter for RFE/RL will become one of 70 journalists killed in action last year to be commemorated at a U.S. news and journalism museum.

Rafiq Tagi, 61, died in hospital days after being stabbed by an unknown assailant.

He said the attack was related to a critical article he had written about human rights in Iran.

Tagi’s name, together with the names of other journalists slain last year, will be inscribed on a special wall at the Washington-based Newseum during a ceremony on May 14.

The list includes a combined total of 14 journalists killed in Pakistan and Iraq, the two most dangerous countries for reporters in 2011.

Journalists from Afghanistan and the Russian republic of Daghestan will also be honored at the Newseum ceremony.

http://www.rferl.org/content/newseum_rafik_tagi/24578344.html

KHATLON, Tajikistan — An outspoken critic of the Uzbek and Tajik governments has reportedly been beaten by unknown assailants near his home in the Tajik town of Qurghon-Teppa.

Ethnic Uzbek Salim Shamsiddinov, 57, said three men attacked him on May 5, causing injuries to his head and legs. Shamsiddinov said he was rescued by a passing police officer.

The attack occurred the same day that Shamsiddinov was dismissed in absentia from his post as deputy chairman of the Foundation of Uzbeks in Tajikistan and head of the Foundation of Uzbeks in Khatlon province.

He is a lawyer by profession.

Police officials in the southern Khatlon province confirmed the incident, but declined to give details.

Shamsiddinov has been receiving medical treatment at home, saying he is «too afraid» about his security to stay in hospital.

Strained Relations

Shamsiddinov has suggested the attack could be linked to recent media interviews in which he blamed Tajik government policies for «straining relationships» with neighboring Uzbekistan.

«Ordinary people don’t attack you like that,» he said. «I was targeted because of my interviews. This attack must have been ordered by some important people.»

In a string of interviews to Tajik media, including to the «Millat» (Nation) newspaper, Shamsiddinov suggested that certain officials within the Tajik government are pursuing «nationalistic» policies.

He complained that many ethnic Uzbeks in Khalton have no access to education in their mother tongue.

In his interviews, Shamsuddinov criticized local authorities in Khatlon for allegedly closing down Uzbek-language classes in several schools.

Tensions Over Water

Shamsiddinov also questioned Tajikistan’s ambitious project to complete the Roghun hydroelectric power plant, a plan strongly opposed by Uzbekistan.

Tashkent has complained that the Roghun power plant will leave Uzbekistan facing severe water shortages downstream.

Shamsiddinov is also a critic of Uzbek authorities.

He has accused both governments of pursuing the «wrong» policies toward each other, and also undermining ethnic minorities’ rights.

He has dubbed both Dushanbe and Tashkent’s treatment of ethnic minorities a «form of genocide.»

In an open letter published in the media, the Foundation of Uzbeks in Tajikistan said that Shamsiddinov’s recent interviews reflect his own opinions and do not represent the foundation’s standpoint on these issues.

Nonetheless, the foundation pointed out that it does support Shamsiddinov’s points of view.

Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have long had strained relations due to disputes over water and energy resources as well as transit routes.

http://www.rferl.org/content/outspoked_uzbek_critic_beaten_in_tajikistan/24573221.html

A court in Kazakhstan’s western city of Oral has approved the 10-day detention of two men to investigation their possible involvement in an attack that left a well-known journalist hospitalized.

The two men, both 20 years old, were arrested May 6.

Lukpan Akhmedyarov, a correspondent for the «Uralskaya nedelya» weekly in Oral, was stabbed and shot with a pneumatic pistol on April 19.

Kazakh authorities have said additional suspects may have been involved in the attack and that the investigation is continuing.

Akhmedyarov said he believes the attack was a reaction to some of his journalistic work.

International organizations and rights groups have condemned the attack on Akhmedyarov, who was known for his critical reporting on Kazakh authorities, and called for a thorough investigation.

Based on reporting by KazTAG and Interfax

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan_journalist_attack_suspects/24576135.html

The Representative on Freedom of the Media from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has expressed concern over the «indiscriminate detention» of journalists reporting on street protests in Moscow and recent cyber attacks on Russian media websites.

Dunja Mijatovic said in a statement that «What happened in recent days must be thoroughly investigated and sanctions taken against those law enforcement officers who violated the rights of journalists.»

Reports say that riot police harassed and detained dozens of reporters who were covering street gatherings in Moscow from 6 May to 9 May.

On 6 May, the websites of the «Kommersant» newspaper, «Bolshoi Gorod» magazine, the Ekho Moskvy radio station, the Dozhd TV station, and that of the slon.ru online news service were made temporarily unavailable just as some of them were planning to broadcast live from the scene of the protests.

http://www.rferl.org/content/osce_representative_criticizes/24576796.html

It’s never a good time to be a government critic in Tajikistan, but this week has been particularly bad. Two critics have been violently attacked in separate incidents.

A leader of the minority Uzbek community in Khatlon Province, Salim Shamsiddinov, 57, was beaten with a metal pipe in broad daylight on May 5 near his home in Qurghon-Teppa.

Shamsiddinov told Radio Ozodi (Radio Liberty’s Tajik service) that he believes the attack, carried out by three athletic-looking men, was related to a recent interview he gave the newspaper “Millat,” where he criticized Tajik authorities for their “nationalist” position in dealing with rival Uzbekistan. (That statement so upset his allies that the day Shamsiddinov was attacked he was also dismissed from his post as deputy chairman of the Society of Uzbeks in Tajikistan.) He has also regularly criticized Tashkent’s approach to relations with Tajikistan. Uzbeks make up roughly 15 percent of Tajikistan’s population.

Separately, on May 7 in Dushanbe, television presenter Daler Sharipov was hospitalized in an attack by unknown assailants. Asia-Plus reports a suspect has been detained, but Sharipov’s friend, who witnessed the attack, says he is not certain the suspect is the assailant.

Sharipov, a fifth-year journalism student, hosts two popular talk shows on state television. Last week he announced he was creating an organization called Qadam ba Qadam (Step by Step) to draw attention to Tajikistan’s cronyism and corruption, RFE/RL reported. Radio Ozodi quoted Sharipov as saying he had recently received email threats from anonymous sources.

While there’s no direct evidence the attacks are related to Shamsiddinov’s or Sharipov’s work, they do testify to a trend in Tajikistan. Critics beware.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65378