TWO JOURNALISTS UNDER FIRE IN UZBEKISTAN
Two cases of persecution of journalists in Uzbekistan have received wide publicity during the last couple of weeks. The first case refers to a lawsuit against the editor of the Russian website www.vesti.uz and a correspondent of the “Parliamentary Newspaper”, Russian citizen Vladimir Berezovskiy, who was charged with “libel and insult”. The second case refers to the lawsuit against the “Voice of America” radio reporter Abdumalik Boboev, who was accused under similar charges. As a result of these lawsuits, both journalists could be imprisoned or charged with considerable fines.
On October 13, the Tashkent court found Berezovskiy guilty of “libel and insult” of the Uzbek people. However, he was immediately granted an amnesty. The indictment lacked some essential elements; above all it did not provide the names of the victims, i.e. individuals who were actually libeled or insulted. The whole case was based exclusively on an expert opinion letter of a representative of the Monitoring of Mass Communications Centre of the Uzbek Agency on Communications and Information.
Meanwhile, Berezovskiy thinks that all the charges against him are fabricated. No articles published on his web-site call for overthrowing the existing regime or constitutional system of Uzbekistan, as was stated in the prosecution’s resolution on 5 April 5. In fact, the web-site’s content is quite neutral, mainly covering cooperation between Uzbekistan and Russia, activities of the Russian embassy and consulate, etc. In the end of 2009, however, the web-site published several articles reporting on the elimination of Russian heritage in Uzbekistan, e.g. dismantling of the monument to the Soviet soldier in Tashkent, demolishing of the Russian church, and the renaming of streets named after famous Soviet Russian people. Based on this, the expert opinion letter stated that the website contains “libelous, misleading and misinforming information, the dissemination of which may cause interethnic and international hostility, and create panic among the people”.
Similar charges were presented against a freelance journalist and reporter for “Voice of America” radio in Uzbekistan, Abdumalik Boboev. On October 15, the court gave a judgment in Mr. Boboev’s case, and sentenced him to pay a fine of four hundred minimum wages. Even though Mr. Boboev expected a much tougher verdict, he still plans to apply to the court of appeals and ask to be completely acquitted.
Both cases were carefully observed by local and international human rights defenders. On October 4, the U.S. embassy in Uzbekistan published the transcript of a statement made by the U.S. ambassador to the OSCE, Ian Kelly, during the regular council meeting in Vienna. Ambassador Kelly expressed concerns about the freedom of mass media in Uzbekistan, and criticized the activities of the Uzbek authorities in relation to the two journalists. “Applying criminal judicial procedures for punishing journalists exercising their freedom of expression is a violation of Uzbekistan’s voluntary commitments to the OSCE, and it certainly puts pressure on journalists all over the country”, said the Ambassador. Later, on October 15, the U.S. Embassy made another statement, expressing content with the fact that Abdumalik Boboev was released from court without imprisonment. Nonetheless, the Embassy stated that it is still concerned over the negative consequences this case may have on the freedom of mass media in Uzbekistan, and it will carefully observe the procedure of Mr. Boboev’s appeal.
The Russian embassy in Uzbekistan displayed no reaction whatsoever to the lawsuit against the Russian journalist Berezovskiy. According to Berezovskiy, however, he was supported by the Journalists’ Union of Russia, the Public Chamber of Russia, the International Center for the Protection of Journalists, and the Center of Extreme Journalism.
The head of the Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Defenders of Uzbekistan, Surat Ikramov, thinks that the lawsuits against the two journalists were not accidental. Thus, he concludes that charges of libel and insult of the Uzbek people or the government of Uzbekistan based on “non-existent articles”, which are accepted by the courts, in fact show the absurdity of these proceedings, and allow for the persecution of journalists, human rights defenders and independent experts.
It should be noted that other cases of accusing journalists of libel or insult have taken place before in Uzbekistan. Not long ago, the case of the photographer Umida Ahmedova, who was prosecuted on the same charges for her photo album “Women And Men: From Sunrise to Dawn”, had a similar outcome. Thus, the persecution of journalists and activists on charges such as insult of the nation is becoming a regular occurrence in Uzbekistan. The present two cases, however, show that no one is insured from this in Uzbekistan, neither foreign citizens like Vladimir Berezovskiy, nor employees of foreign mass media agencies like Abdumalik Boboev.
