One Year After Journalist’s Murder, Still No Answers
One year ago today, Alisher Saipov, a 26 year-old Uzbek journalist who was a correspondent for the Voice of America (VOA) and contributor to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), was shot to death by an unidentified gunman near his office in the southern Kyrgyzstan town of Osh. Despite pledges by the Kyrgyz authorities to bring Saipov’s killers to justice, the case remains unsolved.
“One year later, and the shots that killed Alisher Saipov still echo with his young family and among journalists worldwide who seek to freely report the facts. The government of Kyrgyzstan must pursue Saipov’s killers, following a path to justice no matter where it leads,” said Edward Kaufman, member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the federal government agency that oversees VOA and RFE/RL.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) today called the investigation “disgraceful.” The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says promises by the Kyrgyz government “hang in the air, lacking the political will to solve the crime.”
Exiled Uzbek journalist Galima Bukharbaeva, who has drawn international attention to the Uzbek government