Tag Archives: rights and freedoms

Russia complains about extradition of blogger to Azerbaijan

FEB. 2 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia has complained to Belarus about the extradition of a Russian- Israeli blogger to Azerbaijan, media reported. Azerbaijan requested the arrest and extradition of Alexander Lapshin because it said that he had visited the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh illegally. The complaint and ensuing row could upset Russia-Azerbaijan relations.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 315, published on Feb. 3 2017)

 

Azerbaijani students told not to criticise the government

JAN. 27 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Students at Baku State University have been warned not to criticise Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev or the university on social media, a leaked audio recording showed.

In the audio recording, released on Facebook, the deputy dean of the faculty of journalism of Baku State University Aytekin Zeynalova threatened students for criticising the university administration.

“After seeing on social media the criticism of a student my blood pressure increased,” she told a group of students. “If students break the rules of the discipline, they will receive a warning and I will reprimand them.”

A second audio recording was leaked a few days later in which Ms Zeynalova again threatened students.

The recordings, and the attitude of Ms Zeynalov, are important because they highlight what human rights have said is a systematic crackdown on free speech in Azerbaijan.

It also demonstrates just how important Facebook has become as a tool for people to express themselves and criticise governments in countries which have been showing an increasingly authoritarian bent.

Students told The Conway Bulletin that it was fairly standard to receive warnings about social media use.

Umman Safarov, a third-year student at the Faculty of Journalism at Baku State University, said that he was warned not to share posts criticising President Aliyev and the university administration.

“The vice-Chancellor told me that while you are studying at Baku State University, you cannot share such posts otherwise you will be expelled from the university,” he said.

Baku State University said in a statement that Ms Zeynalova had admitted that she had handed out the warning but media later quoted the rector of the University, Abel Meherremov, as saying that it was a duty of every student not to criticise the government.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 315, published on Feb. 3 2017)

Kyrgyz civil leaders criticise crackdown on Facebook as an “invasion of human rights”

BISHKEK, JAN. 25 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Rights groups and civil society leaders in Kyrgyzstan have criticised the government for moves to monitor Facebook for comments critical of the president.

The row centres on the Kyrgyz National Security Committee’s (GKNB) move to identify and monitor 45 Facebook users who have criticised President Almazbek Atambayev. Facebook in Kyrgyzstan is one of the few mediums ordinary people use to express political opinions.

But Klara Sooronkulova, a former judge of the Constitutional Court who was sacked in 2015 because of a disagreement with Parliament over the use of people’s biometrics data said the move was wrong. “It is invasion of privacy and violation of human rights,” she told The Conway Bulletin.

A Bishkek analyst who preferred to remain anonymous said politics may be motivating the clampdown.

“The next presidential elections are coming [ in October],” he said. “They are taking measures to control chaos by trying to control who criticises the President.”

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 314, published on Jan. 27 2017)

 

Kazakh authorities arrest union leaders

JAN. 26 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The New York-based Human Rights Watch criticised the Kazakh authorities for arresting two union leaders on Jan. 20 for allegedly organising a hunger strike by oil workers earlier in the year against the closure of a union confederation structure. The two union leaders, Amin Yeleusinov, and Nurbek Kushakbayev, have been placed in pretrial detention. The Kazakh government wants to reduce the power of the unions, who they blame for a series of strikes since 2011.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 314, published on Jan. 27 2017)

Kyrgyzstan keeps Uzbek activist locked up

BISHKEK, JAN. 24 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Kyrgyzstan reiterated a life sentence against ethnic Uzbek rights activist Azimjan Askarov for stirring racial tension in the south of the country in 2010.

Kyrgyzstan has been under pressure from the United States, the United Nations and various human rights groups to free Askarov, but the judge in the court in Bishkek rejected the notion that the original conviction had been unsafe.

Human rights groups said the decision had been politically motivated and that the government was looking for scapegoats for ethnic violence in 2010. Askarov had been arrested in the aftermath of riots in 2010 focused on the southern city of Osh between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks that killed several hundred people.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 314, published on Jan. 27 2017)

Kazakh court gives editor suspended sentence

JAN. 25 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Astana gave Bigeldi Gabdullin, the 61-year-old editor of the Central Asia Monitor newspaper, a five year suspended jail sentence after he pleaded guilty to trying to extort bribes from officials. Media freedom activists said Gabdullin had only avoided a jail sentence because he had been pressured into admitting guilt.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 314, published on Jan. 27 2017)

Ex-security chief in Turkmenistan dies in jail

JAN. 17 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tirkish Tyrmyev, the former head of Turkmenistan’s National Security Committee, has died in prison, the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. RFE/RL said that Tyrmev had been sent to prison in 2002 for abuse of power. It also said that shortly before he was due to be released in 2012, a court extended his sentence by seven years for apparently attacking a prison guard. Turkmenistan is one of the most secretive country’s in the world and has a poor human rights record.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)

Kazakh police arrest deputy head of pres. administration

ALMATY, JAN. 16 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Kazakhstan continued their purge of top tier officials with the arrest of Baglan Mailybayev, the deputy head of the Presidential Administration, for stealing state secrets.

The arrest of both Mr Mailybayev, 41, who had been deputy head of President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s administration since 2011, and another senior official, follow the arrest of a former head of the National Security Committee on similar charges in December.

A former economy minister and a handful of senior executives at a state-run company have also been arrested for corruption.

Analysts said Mr Nazarbayev may be trying to clean out his administration of people he thought were under-performing.

Dosym Satpayev, director of the Risk Assessment Group, said: “To me, the president is showing frustration with young politicians who have made some serious mistakes in their new positions.”

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)

Azerbaijan’s court jails activist

JAN. 16 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Azerbaijan sentenced Elgiz Gahraman, a 31-year-old opposition youth activist, to 5-1/2 years in prison for drug-related offences. The New York- based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that in August 2016 Gahraman had been taken by police to a station in Baku, beaten and forced to sign a confession that he had been carrying heroin and intended to sell it. HRW has accused the Azerbaijani authorities of using bogus charges to imprison people it considers to be troublemakers.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)

Trial for editor begins in Kazakhstan

JAN. 17 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The trial for extortion of Bigeldy Gabdullin, editor of the Central Asia Monitor newspaper, began in Astana. Mr Gabdullin has admitted to charges that he blackmailed officials into paying him bribes not to publish negative stories. His supporters have said that the confession was extracted under duress and that the 61-year-old was hoping that by agreeing to the confession he will be given a light sentence.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)