CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Hard-line Uzbek authorities closed down a popular Islam-oriented weekly, its editor said Monday, amid an ongoing crackdown on independent media in the authoritarian ex-Soviet state. The state media and communications agency shut down the independent Odam Orasida (Among the People) weekly, citing alleged breaches of the media law, editor Khairulla Khamidov told the Associated Press. But officials didn't explain the alleged breaches, he said.
The weekly--which discussed issues like infant mortality, homosexuality, and prostitution from the Muslim viewpoint--was launched in February. Its circulation in the capital, Tashkent, reached 24,000. The paper competed with government-supported newspapers or publications that limited their content to entertainment and celebrity gossip.
Uzbek authorities stepped up pressure on independent journalists two years ago after government troops opened fire on mostly peaceful protesters in the eastern city of Andijan. Survivors and human rights groups say at least 700 people died in the May 2005 crackdown, while the government insists that 187 died and blames Islamic militants for fomenting the violence.
In the months after the uprising, President Islam Karimov's government closed the local offices of the British Broadcasting Corp.; U.S.-funded Radio Freedom/Radio Liberty, and a dozen U.S.-funded aid groups. Several journalists working for foreign media also have been jailed or beaten. Government-controlled Internet service providers developed a system of filtering independent Web publications, similar to one devised in communist China.
Karimov, a Kremlin-appointed Communist boss, has ruled the predominantly Muslim nation of 26 million since before the 1991 Soviet collapse, eliminating political opponents and government critics. The U.S. State Department lists Uzbekistan among the world's worst abusers of religious and media freedoms. (AP)
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Meet all 37 of the queer women in this season's WNBA
April 17 2024 11:24 AM
Here are the 15 gayest travel destinations in the world: report
March 26 2024 9:23 AM
21+ steamy photos of Scotland’s finest gay men in Elska Glasgow
February 01 2024 10:07 PM
More Than 50 of Our Favorite LGBTQ+ Moms
May 12 2024 11:44 AM
Conjoined twins Lori Schappell and trans man George Schappell dead at 62
April 27 2024 6:13 PM
Latest Stories
Joe Biden sends queer lawmakers & LGBTQ+ allies to Paris Olympics
July 24 2024 12:08 PM
Kamala Harris rides wave of Democratic energy at kickoff event in Wisconsin
July 23 2024 3:36 PM
'Devastated:' A six-week abortion ban will go into effect in Iowa next week
July 23 2024 2:28 PM
Four hours, 44,000 Black women, and one Zoom call
July 23 2024 2:17 PM