MARCH 27 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijani officials opened an investigation into the US vote monitoring group the National Democratic Institute (NDI) for distributing grants without the correct registration, media reported. The authorities in Azerbaijan have been cracking down on media and rights groups ahead of an election next year.
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(News report from Issue No. 129, published on March 29 2013)
MARCH 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan needs to stop clamping down on civil society and instead allow freedom of expression, the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, Nils Muiznieks, told Reuters. Mr Muiznieks said the Azerbiajani authorities have not yet followed through on their promises to protect human rights.
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(News report from Issue No. 128, published on March 22 2013)
MARCH 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Baku court jailed the editor of an independent newspaper for nine years for extortion. Police arrested Avaz Zeynally, editor of the Khural daily, in October 2011 after a parliamentarian from the ruling party alleged that he had asked for a bribe. Mr Zeynally’s supporters say the charges have been made up.
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(News report from Issue No. 127, published on March 15 2013)
FEB. 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – After seven years imprisoned in a Turkmen jail, the authorities have released Turkmen journalists Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadjiyev.
Both men are, reportedly, gravely ill. Their home since August 2006 was the Turkmenbashi prison — named after previous President Sapamurat Niyazov — in a western desert region. Temperatures plummet during the winter and soar during the summer. Conditions are cramped and dirty.
Mr Amanklychev and Mr Khadjiyev’s crime was to apparently hold illegal firearms and ammunition. It was an offence they were arrested for immediately after helping a French TV company produce a documentary about Turkmenistan in 2006.
Their case highlights the dubious record on freedom of speech in Turkmenistan and, indeed, across much of Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
Reporters Without Borders, the Paris-based NGO that reported their release, continually rates Turkmenistan at the bottom of their freedom of speech ratings, alongside North Korea.
In Turkmenistan, reporting issues the government doesn’t want made public is dangerous work.
At least Mr Amanklychev and Mr Khadjiyev are alive, if only just. A third journalist, Ogulsapar Muradova, arrested with them didn’t make it. He died in 2006 in pre-trial detention.
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(News report from Issue No. 125, published on Feb. 22 2013)
FEB. 20 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek hackers attacked the websites of various Kyrgyz government ministries and state-owned companies leaving the message “We’re against racism!”, media reported. Tension between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz has been growing in the south of the country since the beginning of the year.
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(News report from Issue No. 125, published on Feb. 22 2013)
FEB. 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – After seven years imprisoned in a Turkmen jail, the authorities have released Turkmen journalists Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadjiyev.
Both men are, reportedly, gravely ill. Their home since August 2006 was the Turkmenbashi prison — named after previous President Sapamurat Niyazov — in a western desert region. Temperatures plummet during the winter and soar during the summer. Conditions are cramped and dirty.
Mr Amanklychev and Mr Khadjiyev’s crime was to apparently hold illegal firearms and ammunition. It was an offence they were arrested for immediately after helping a French TV company produce a documentary about Turkmenistan in 2006.
Their case highlights the dubious record on freedom of speech in Turkmenistan and, indeed, across much of Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
Reporters Without Borders, the Paris-based NGO that reported their release, continually rates Turkmenistan at the bottom of their freedom of speech ratings, alongside North Korea.
In Turkmenistan, reporting issues the government doesn’t want made public is dangerous work.
At least Mr Amanklychev and Mr Khadjiyev are alive, if only just. A third journalist, Ogulsapar Muradova, arrested with them didn’t make it. He died in 2006 in pre-trial detention.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 125, published on Feb. 22 2013)
JAN. 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Unsurprisingly after a year clamping down on the press, Kazakhstan slipped six places to 160th position in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index of 179 countries. This placed Kazakhstan next to Rwanda. Uzbekistan also fell seven places to 164th position. Azerbaijan rose six places to 156.
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(News report from Issue No. 122, published on Feb. 1 2013)
JAN. 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Unsurprisingly after a year clamping down on the press, Kazakhstan slipped six places to 160th position in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index of 179 countries. This placed Kazakhstan next to Rwanda. Uzbekistan also fell seven places to 164th position. Azerbaijan rose six places to 156.
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(News report from Issue No. 122, published on Feb. 1 2013)
DEC. 26 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Tajik authorities flirted with blocking up to 131 websites ahead of a presidential election at the start of the year, media reported. An order to block the websites, mainly news and social media, was circulated on Dec. 20, only to be cancelled a week later. Tajikistan periodically blocks websites.
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(News report from Issue No. 118, published on Dec. 28 2012)
DEC. 3 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Tajik authorities unblocked Facebook, a social networking website, and the website of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a US-funded news service. Tajikistan worries the internet may spread unrest and has periodically blocked access to websites. Facebook and RFE/RL had been blocked for about a week.
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(News report from Issue No. 116, published on Dec. 7 2012)