The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) joins in solidarity with its colleagues at the BBC to protest the detention of Urunboy Usmonov, a reporter for the BBC World Service’s Uzbek service, who has been held in Tajikistan for alleged ties to Hizb-ut-Tahir, an Islamic movement that is banned in Central Asia.
“International journalists suffer this kind of outrageous repression all too often. Our colleagues at Radio Free Europe know Urunboy as an independent-minded journalist who could be expected to cover sensitive issues with professionalism and detachment,” said Walter Isaacson, chairman of the BBG. “His reporting on Hizb-ut-Tahrir, among other subjects, was journalism, not a crime.”
Usmonov’s arrest is the latest incident in a year that saw escalating attacks against Tajikistan’s independent media.
For more information on the detention of Urunboy Usmonov, visit the BBC.
