(GDF/IFEX) – On 8 June 1998, Samarkind regional radio journalist Shadi Mardiev was sentenced to eleven years in prison by the Syrdarya regional court. He had been charged with defamation and extortion under five articles of the Uzbekistan Criminal Code, two of which are apparently from a previous, no longer valid version of the code. […]
(GDF/IFEX) – On 8 June 1998, Samarkind regional radio journalist Shadi
Mardiev was sentenced to eleven years in prison by the Syrdarya regional
court. He had been charged with defamation and extortion under five articles
of the Uzbekistan Criminal Code, two of which are apparently from a
previous, no longer valid version of the code.
Businessman Akbar Ulugov had appealed to Samarkind deputy prosecutor Talat
Abdulkhalikzade, complaining of a satirical program concerning Ulugov
broadcast by Mardiev on Samarkind regional radio in November 1997.
Abdulkhalikzade later brought forward charges of defamation and extortion.
After the sentenced had been passed, Mardiev’s lawyer filed an appeal to the
country’s supreme court.
Mardiev, 61, is a well-known journalist in Uzbekistan who has worked for 34
years in the media. He is director of the radio program “Man and Law”, which
is often critical of state officials.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
both the trial and the sentence as a form of persecution of the journalist
for his critical stance
and to do everything in their power to ensure that press freedom be
respected and protected in Uzbekistan
Appeals To
His Excellency Islam Karimov
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
