Kyrgystan
Two TV journalists attacked in MarchPosted Apr 20 2007
Reporters Without Borders has written an open letter to Kyrgyz authorities concerning the recent brutal attacks on journalists in the past three weeks. According to the RWB Web site, the letter calls on authorities “to do everything in your power to put an end to this violence and to bring about a significant improvement in the conditions for exercising free expression.” Some of the recent incidents include an attack on Talantbek Sopuev, a reporter for the privately owned television station TV September, who was beaten by about 40 men and women during a pro-government rally in Djalal-Abad that he was covering on March 31; Daniyar Isanov, a news presenter with TV station NTS, who was beaten by four men on March 27 in Bishkek and is still in the hospital with serious fatal injuries; and Kayrat Birimkulov, a presenter for the state television service, who was beaten by two men on his way home on March 16. The Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Bishkek say that no one has been brought to trial over the physical attack or murder of a journalist in the past 15 years. For more information visit www.rsf.org.