(Adil Soz/IFEX) – The following is a joint Trade Union for Journalists in Kyrgyzstan and Adil Soz alert: On October 26, 2005, protesters calling for the resignation of the government and Prime Minister Felix Kulov and for the dissolution of Parliament assaulted and threatened television reporters in the central square of Osh, a city in […]
(Adil Soz/IFEX) – The following is a joint Trade Union for Journalists in Kyrgyzstan and Adil Soz alert:
On October 26, 2005, protesters calling for the resignation of the government and Prime Minister Felix Kulov and for the dissolution of Parliament assaulted and threatened television reporters in the central square of Osh, a city in southern Kyrgyzstan.
Organizers of the demonstration repeatedly struck a camera operator from the local television station in the chest after the reporter had filmed them driving their cars to the square. The organizers got out of their cars and approached a group of journalists, demanding that they hand over their footage.
The attackers then jammed the video camera and demanded that the station report on the demonstration only in a positive way. One of the demonstration’s organizers, Ryspek Akhmatbayev, is known to be a local leader of criminal groups. His brother, Tynychbek Akhmatbayev, a member of parliament who chaired the Defence, Security, Order and Information Politics Committee, was killed along with his public relations assistant, Hamid Alymkulov, and a committee expert, Talasbek Omarov, by prisoners while visiting a jail in Bishkek during unrest there on October 20. Ryspek Akhmatbayev accused Prime Minister Kulov and Parliamentary Speaker Omurbek Tekebayev of being involved in his brother’s murder.
The journalists received several threatening calls saying violence would be used against them if the television station showed anything negative about the demonstration. The station aired a piece about the demonstration without commentary on the evening news.
The journalists have requested that their names not be published since they are still receiving threats connected to the incident.
