Uzbekistan: Government Marks Media Workers Day

Uzbekistan ranks among the most repressive states in the world when it comes to freedom of speech. But the Uzbek government celebrated Media Workers Day on June 27 with a straight face.

In televised remarks, Uzbek President Islam Karimov called on journalists in the country to abandon self-censorship. "We should get rid of old stereotypes and views [ . . . ] and self-censorship," Karimov said.

"I believe it would be right to award journalists, who [ . . . ] sacrifice and put their lives in danger [ . . . ] for professional bravery and selflessness," Karimov added.

The international watchdog group Reporters Without Borders has placed Karimov on a list of known "predators of press freedom." In its 2008 annual report on media freedom, meanwhile, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) described Uzbekistan as serial abuser of press freedom. "With six reporters in prison in late year, Uzbekistan was the region's leading jailer of journalists. International broadcast media remained blocked, and government security agents enforced censorship rules on domestic news media," the CPJ report said.