International media and human rights groups are calling for the immediate release of a prominent journalist in Uzbekistan who was taken into custody August 11.
Igor Rotar was taken into custody at Tashkent airport at approximately 10:25 am after arriving on a flight from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Uzbek authorities were reportedly holding Rotar incommunicado. Rotar is a correspondent for several Western news outlets that cover Uzbekistan, including Forum 18.
Uzbek authorities have declined to comment on the detention, according to a news alert issued by Forum 18, a news service that focus issues relating to religious freedom. The detention, media observers say, appears to be connected of an ongoing Uzbek government effort to stifle all independent sources of information in the country.
"We are very concerned for Rotar's safety and call on the Uzbek authorities to release him and to end their campaign of harassment and intimidation against the independent media," said Alex Lupis, the Europe Program Coordinator for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
“Anytime a journalist is taken into custody, there is a danger to the journalist, and to freedom of expression,” said Rachel Denber, the deputy director of Human Rights Watch Europe and Central Asia division. “This is an ugly situation, and it is in line with the repressive measures that this government has taken against the media and freedom of religion.”
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is closely monitoring Rotar's case, said spokesman Richard Murphy.
An observer, who saw Rotar a few hours after he was taken into custody, reported that the journalist appeared to be physically sound but psychologically shaken by the experience, the Forum 18 news alert indicated. The alert added that "reliable sources have indicated that the detention was ordered
Editor's note:
Cassandra Uretz is an editorial assistant for EurasiaNet.
