H.E. Islam Karimov
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Tashkent
Uzbekistan

Vienna, 28 July 1998

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of journalists and media executives, strongly condemns the conviction and 11-year prison sentence imposed on Shadi Mardiev, a reporter with the state-run Samarkand radio station, who was jailed after satirising the alleged corrupt practices of a local prosecutor.

Mardiev, who is well known for his critical stance toward corruption and for his writing in the satirical journal Mushtum, was arrested on charges of defamation and extortion under Uzbek Penal Code in November 1997 and held in pre-trial detention until after the court hearing in June 1998, when he was tried before the Sirdariya Regional Court. He remains in solitary confinement awaiting the outcome of an appeal to the Supreme Court.

The case stems from a June 1997 broadcast which satirised the allegedly corrupt practices of Talat Abdulkhalikzada, the Samarkand deputy prosecutor, who accused Mardiev of defamation and alleged that the journalist had used the threat of the impending broadcast to attempt to extort money from him.

IPI, the global network of media editors and media executives, believes that laws that make libel and defamation criminal offences are a clear attempt to stifle free expression and contradict the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and similar provisions. In a democratic society, defamation should be a civil law offence. We therefore urge Your Excellency to do everything in your power to ensure that Shadi Mardiev’s conviction is reversed and that journalists in Uzbekistan are judged by civil laws and not by criminal statutes.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director