BBC radio programmes suspended
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is protesting the suspension of the radio programmes of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). According to RSF’s information, on 13 January 1999, the Uzbek authorities decided to move the BBC programmes for the country to much less accessible frequencies for the public. According to Yuri Goligorsky, chief editor of broadcasting in Central […]
Prison sentence against journalist Shadi Mardiev confirmed by supreme court
(GDF/IFEX) – On 3 August 1998, the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan confirmed the eleven-year prison sentence handed down against Samarkind regional radio journalist Shadi Mardiev. His lawyer, Khakimzhon Bobanarov, had appealed to the court’s plenary session. **Updates IFEX alerts dated 17 July and 29 June 1998** Background Information On 8 June, Mardiev was sentenced to […]
Two Russian journalists assaulted
(GDF/IFEX) – On 1 August 1998, Russian journalists Vitaly Ponomarev and Nikolai Mitrokhin, who are reporters for the Moscow Panorama Agency, were assaulted and beaten in the centre of Tashkent by five or six unknown individuals following their meeting with Marat Zakhidov, a well-known Uzbek human rights activist. In sight of passers-by, the assailants knocked […]
WAN protests journalist’s sentencing in Uzbekistan
(WAN/IFEX) – The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) on Friday, 24 July 1998, called on Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov to set aside the conviction and 11-year prison sentence imposed on Shadi Mardiev, a 62-year-old reporter who was jailed after satirizing the alleged corrupt practices of a local prosecutor. **For background information, see IFEX alerts of […]
Uzbek journalist faces 11 years imprisonment
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is greatly alarmed by the decision of the Sirdariya (spelled “Syrdarya” in IFEX alert of 29 June 1998) Regional Court to sentence Shadi Mardiev, a 62-year-old reporter with the state-run Samarkand radio station, to an 11-year prison term for defamation and extortion. **This alert contains information further to IFEX alert of 29 […]
Journalist Shadi Mardiev sentenced to eleven years in prison
(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and extortion under five articles of the Uzbekistan Criminal Code, two of which are apparently from a previous, no longer valid version of the code. […]
Censorship concerns around OSCE seminar on media issues
In a letter released on 4 October 1996 for the opening of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki said the OSCE would be giving tacit approval to strict government control of the media and fierce repression of free speech in Uzbekistan. Human […]