Radio Liberty condemns jailing of reporter

The US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), on Tuesday condemned a six month jail sentence imposed on its Uzbekistan reporter for allegedly insulting a security service official. The sentence is being seen as part of increasing government pressure on both journalists and human rights groups in this Central Asian nation. Washington and Prague-based RFE/RL promotes democratic values by disseminating factual information and ideas. The correspondent, Nosir Zokirov, is an Uzbek national employed by the station's Uzbek language service. He was summoned to court in the eastern city of Namangan on 26 August, denied access to a defence lawyer or permission to call defence witnesses, found guilty and send directly to prison, according to a statement issued by RFE/RL. “It was a kangaroo court, bearing no resemblance to international accepted legal norms,” Thomas Dine, RFE/RL president, said in a statement. “The sentencing of Nosir Zokirov, on such an absurd charge marks a new low in an intensifying campaign waged against him and other RFE/RL correspondents, evident even before the Andijan massacre,” Dine was quoted as saying. Up to 1,000 civilians were shot dead by Uzbek security forces in the eastern city of Andijan during an anti-government demonstration in May. Zokirov was sentenced under Article 140 of the Uzbek criminal code, which makes it a criminal offence to insult a member of the security forces. According to RFE/RL, the charges relate to an angry telephone call Zokirov made to a national security service office in Namangan in early August, in which he protested against attempts to put pressure on a local poet. Earlier Zokirov had broadcast a poem by Haydarali Komilov about the Andijan crackdown. "The poetry angered the authorities and the pressure on my father intensified. He was summoned to the security services for questioning but refused to go. Later he was taken for questioning by a security service official," Zokirov’s son said. At least three other local Uzbek nationals working as correspondents for Radio Liberty’s Uzbek language service, have been subjected to similar pressure by the Uzbek authorities. “It is incumbent on us, living in a free society with free media, to let the world know what is happening to Uzbek journalists inside Uzbekistan," Dine added.