[CivilSoc] Support Requested for Journalist Imprisoned in Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyz Republic

[Center for Civil Society International]

From: Chris Schuepp <Schuepp@INTERNEWS.KG>
Journalist imprisoned in Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyz Republic
On July 13th, 2001, Internews lawyer Akmat Alagushev met with the
jailed journalist Samagan Orozaliev in the regional prison in
Jalal-Abad. The meeting lasted four hours and was the first personal
meeting between our lawyer and the journalist. It became very clear
to us that there is an urgent need for actions. The conditions in the
prison of Jalal-Abad give us every reason to be severely concerned
about the journalist's health.
Mr. Orozaliev, a local TV journalist from Jalal-Abad, was arrested on
May 28th, 2001. Police officers found 300 USD in his clothing, money
that he allegedly received after blackmailing a local
politician-businessman. The journalist claims that he was framed
because he was preparing the publication of critical material about
the deputy to the Jogorku Kenesh and director of the Enterprise of
electricity in Jalal-Abad, Ergesh Torobaev. Mr. Orozaliev, who works
as a freelancer for the TV news show "Zamana" on Kyrgyz State TV, had
filed a complaint against the businessman's son two days prior to the
arrest with the local police office. The journalist told our lawyer
that members of Mr. Torobaev's family had followed him for days and
had requested him to hand over the taped material and not to make it
public. He then gave them a copy on the 27th of May to show to them
what exactly he had filmed and was invited to another meeting on the
28th of May. During this short meeting, Mr. Orozaliev thinks, the
businessman's son must have slipped 300 USD in his pocket. Five
minutes later the local police arrived and arrested the journalist on
charges of extortion.
In a protest letter to the State Prosecutor of the Kyrgyz Republic,
Mr. Abyshkaev, on June 25th, 2001, Internews and the Association of
Journalist of the Kyrgyz Republic, asked for the immediate release of
the jailed journalist as there seem to be no reason to keep Mr
Orozaliev, married and a father of three young children, in jail
during the time of the investigation.
In a message to Mr. Orozaliev's mother in Jalal-Abad, the regional
prosecutor, Mr. Kubanichbek Bakiev, personally refused on July 2nd,
2001 to set the journalist free: "Taking into account the seriousness
of the accusations and the personality, the chosen punishment for
your son, Mr. Orozaliev--imprisonment--cannot be changed until the
end of the official investigation."
To our understanding and after consultations with the accused
journalist in the Jalal-Abad prison, we conclude that the whole case
against Mr. Orozaliev is fabricated and there is no reason to keep
him in jail during the time of the ongoing investigation. Therefore,
Internews Network in the Kyrgyz Republic requests the immediate
release of Samagan Orozaliev.
Chris Schuepp
Country Director
Internews Network Kyrgyz Republic
To support our initiative, please send letters to the President of the
Kyrgyz Republic, Mr. Askar Akaev, and ask him to take measures in support of
the release of the journalist Mr. Samagan Orozaliev.
Honorable Askar Akaev
President of the Kyrgyz Republic
Via facsimile:       +996 (312) 66 13 82
Via email:            office@mail.gov.kg