Uzbek authorities fear spread of Arab Spring and tighten control of internet use by youth

30.05.2012 21:53 msk Human Rights Uzbekistan

Sukhrobjon Ismoilov, director of the Expert Working Group (Uzbekistan) has distributed a report by the Expert Working Group on new restrictions on Internet for the Uzbek youth. The group finds out, in particular, that in an attempt to win the hearts of the youth in the face of so called “mass cultur

Kyrgyzstan: "Tragedy in the South"

27.05.2012 22:02 msk Analytics Kyrgyzstan

"Tragedy in the south" is a study published by Ethnopolitics Papers, authored by three experts who worked at the international Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission: Anna Matveeva, University of Exeter and King's College London, Igor Savin, Russian Academy of Sciences & Bahrom Faizullaev, independent resear

Trial for Russian pensioner arrested for a pack of pills has been canceled

24.05.2012 19:07 msk Human Rights Uzbekistan

The trial for an elderly Russian lady Tamara Talashmanova who was arrested in Uzbekistan and faced 5 to 7 years in prison for carrying a pack of sedative pills Phenazepam has been canceled. According to the Sverdlov’s public television (Russia) which quotes a statement issued by the office of the Ru

Loss of time, business and freedom: that’s all foreign investors get in Uzbekistan

23.05.2012 20:56 msk Business Uzbekistan

Uzbek authorities make enormous efforts to fix the spoiled country’s reputation: it badly needs new investors instead of those it has had and used already. Tashkent runs a huge PR-campaign: forums, symposiums and even the Art Fashion Week, organized by Gulnara Karimova and her “Culture and Arts Foun

US Befriends Kazakhstan Dictator, Now World's Largest Producer of Uranium

17.05.2012 21:10 msk Business Kazakhstan

Uzbekistan: Old Russian woman to go to jail for a pack of pills

15.05.2012 00:16 msk Human Rights Uzbekistan

A 73-years-old Russian woman Tamara Talashmanova from a small town of Sysert in Ural has been under home arrest in Uzbekistan since April 26, 2012. The Russian pensioner with no previous criminal record faces 5 to 7 years in prison.

Dog genocide in Turkmenistan

13.05.2012 00:44 msk Turkmenistan

Stray dogs in Turkmenistan get poisoned with pieces of sausage stuffed with deadly substances or broken glass scattered around junk yards. Poisoned dogs convulse in agony for hours, barking and howling in a high-pitched voice, saliva and blood dripping from mouth. If you have a dog in Ashgabat, the

Anti-prostitution campaign run across Uzbekistan

06.05.2012 22:28 msk Uzbekistan

A country-wide anti-prostitution campaign runs all over Uzbekistan this spring. It includes both street raids by the law enforcement as well as special awareness raising programs on TV. Indeed, prostitution has existed in Tashkent, just like any other city of Uzbekistan, at all times, but most recen

Shooting in Tashkent: People killed as a result of a violent prison riot suppression

05.05.2012 17:47 msk Uzbekistan

Men were killed a result of a prisoners’ riot violently suppressed by police in the outskirts of the capital of Uzbekistan on the 4th of May, 2012, though details of the deadly accident are not disclosed.

Uzbekistan: New members of the “persecuted journalists” club

03.05.2012 23:06 msk Human Rights Uzbekistan

Trials over journalists like Elena Bondar and Viktor Krymzalov, employee of the UK embassy in Uzbekistan Leonid Kudryavtsev, along with many human rights defenders, such as Tatiana Dovlatova, in particular, vividly demonstrate that the authorities have changed their tactics towards punishing persons

Uzbekistan: 50th birthday in prison

26.04.2012 10:57 msk Human Rights Uzbekistan

Today, Dilmurod Saidov is spending his 50th birthday in a prison work camp in Navoi, Uzbekistan . Over the course of the last year, the international community has watched, and debated, as relations between Uzbekistan and the West have steadily improved. But, as we discuss the costs and benefits of

Taliban comeback: Afghanistan anticipating and United States preparing while the CSTO watches

26.04.2012 00:44 msk Analytics Central Asia

At the meeting of the World economics and world politics club in Moscow last week, some of the leading Russian experts on Afghanistan and the Central Asia have discussed the situation in Afghanistan and implications for the Central Asia following the scheduled withdrawal of the NATO troops from Afgh

Uzbekistan: Rustam Usmanov’s son applies to the president of Uzbekistan for a pardon

20.04.2012 16:49 msk Human Rights Uzbekistan

Earlier this year, a formerly well-known banker, doctor of science, journalist and writer Rustam Usmanov who had already served 14 years in prison has been sentenced to additional 5 years while still in jail. His family and even his own defense attorney have learned about this post factum only. Desp

Living in Osh: Cheremushki, tourists, mazaar, lepeshki and bazaar

16.03.2012 10:45 msk Ferghana Valley Kyrgyzstan

Photo © Ekaterina Ivashenko. See more images in the Fergana’s gallery

Experts condemn blocking Fergana’s website as illegal and senseless

29.02.2012 09:33 msk Analytics Kyrgyzstan

Access to a website of Fergana news agency was blocked in Kyrgyzstan as of February 21, 2012. The state-controlled “KyrgyzTelecom” company as well as some other internet providers have thus complied with an instructions issued by the State Communication Agency which in turn responded to an inquiry m

Rustam Usmanov’s simple math: Fourteen plus two

24.02.2012 22:45 msk Human Rights Uzbekistan

It’s been reported to Fergana that Rustam Usmanov, formerly a well-known businessman, sentenced to 14 years in prison in Uzbekistan upon a number of tax charges in 1998, has recently been sentenced to another five years in prison under the article 221 of the Uzbekistan’s Criminal Code (“Noncomplianc