(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 14 August 2001 letter to Uzbek President Islam Karimov, CPJ expressed concern over the criminal charges of forgery against TV ALC director Shukhrat Babadjanov. The charges against Babadjanov relate to a ten-year-old letter of recommendation for Babadjanov that was evidently signed by Ruzi Chariev, a prominent Uzbek painter, but written by […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 14 August 2001 letter to Uzbek President Islam Karimov, CPJ expressed concern over the criminal charges of forgery against TV ALC director Shukhrat Babadjanov.
The charges against Babadjanov relate to a ten-year-old letter of recommendation for Babadjanov that was evidently signed by Ruzi Chariev, a prominent Uzbek painter, but written by Babadjanov himself. The journalist, who is also a well-known artist, was applying to join the Uzbekistan Union of Artists. He claims that Chariev asked him to write the letter because Chariev does not write well in Uzbek.
According to information received by CPJ, Babadjanov was forced to flee Uzbekistan last week after the Tashkent prosecutor’s office summoned him for questioning on 6 August in connection with the charges.
These charges appear to be the latest salvo in a long government campaign against Babadjanov and TV ALC, an independent, Urgench-based station that was forced off the air in November 1999 (see IFEX alert of 26 January 2000).
Local authorities shut down TV ALC despite protests from thousands of Urgench residents and appeals from the international community. Officials claimed they closed the station because it lacked alarm systems to protect its equipment. But Babadjanov and his colleagues maintain that the closure was in retaliation for TV ALC’s critical coverage of the government, particularly during the run-up to the January 2000 presidential and parliamentary elections.
Since the closure, the Uzbek government has repeatedly turned down Babadjanov’s applications for a new broadcasting license. On 24 July, Babadjanov was ordered to vacate his station’s premises within a week because he had been denied a license again.
The nature and timing of the criminal charges lead CPJ to believe that they have nothing to do with a decade-old letter of recommendation, and everything to do with silencing an independent and often critical television station.
CPJ also believes that Babadjanov was justified in fleeing the country, particularly in light of the deaths in detention of writer Emil Usman and human rights activist Shovriq Rusimorodov earlier this year (see IFEX alert of 30 March 2001).
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
– expressing concern over the government’s persecution of Babadjanov
– calling on him to ensure that the Uzbek authorities drop all charges against Babadjanov and restore TV ALC’s broadcasting license
Appeals To
His Excellency Islam Karimov
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
43 Uzbekistanskaya Street
Tashkent, Uzbekistan 700163
Fax: +998 71 139 55 25/139 55 10
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.