Menu

Topics

Connect

Comments

Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.

Retrial begins for jailed Uzbek journalist in Kyrgyzstan

In this Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 photo, taken taken through a shutter in the prison cell door, inmates gather to pray in pre-trial detention center 1 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. AP Photo/Dalton Bennett

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan – A court in Kyrgyzstan has begun a retrial for an ethnic Uzbek journalist jailed for life for stirring up ethnic hatred in a case which has drawn international criticism.

Story continues below advertisement

Azimzhan Askarov’s case was sent for review earlier this year after the U.N. Human Rights Committee in April urged Kyrgyzstan to release him, finding that he had been arbitrarily detained, tortured and denied his right to a fair trial. International rights groups consider Askarov a prisoner of conscience.

READ MORE: Executives from 25 news organizations urge US to press Iran to release journalist

Askarov pleaded not guilty to the charges as hearings opened at the regional court in the capital Bishkek on Tuesday.

The charges relate to ethnic unrest in the south of Kyrgyzstan in 2010 when more than 450 people, mostly ethnic Uzbeks, were killed.

Advertisement

You are viewing an Accelerated Mobile Webpage.

View Original Article