On November 20 2012, New York hosted International Press Freedom awards ceremony organized by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The prize was awarded to four international journalists who risked their lives to cover human rights abuses and corruption.

One of the winners of this award is Azimjon Askarov, a 61-year-old human rights activist and freelance journalist from southern Kyrgyzstan, the head of the human rights organization “Vozduh” (Air), engaged in exposing the criminal acts of the country’s security forces. However, Askarov was unable to attend the award ceremony, as he is currently imprisoned.

After ethnic clashes between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks in 2010 in southern Kyrgyzstan, Azimjon Askarov was arrested on trumped-up charges. He was accused of killing a police officer in Bazar-Korgon village. On September 15 2010, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment. However, a number of authoritative international organizations claim that Azimjon Askarov was imprisoned for his professional activities.

In an interview with “Jarayon”, Muzaffar Suleymanov, research associate for CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Program, spoke about the decision to award Azimjon Askarov, reactions of the Kyrgyz authorities to Committee’s calls for the release of human rights activist, and much more.

Jarayon: Today New York hosted a ceremony of awarding four journalists with International prize of CPJ for press freedom in 2012. One of awardees is a human rights activist and journalist Azimjon Askarov. What criteria were used to select winners, in particular Askarov?

Muzaffar Suleymanov: I cannot talk about specific criteria for selection of winners, as it is the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists that selects a winner. The board includes well-known current and former U.S. and international journalists and editors. They get together at the board’s meeting, and discuss the work and achievements of the each candidate in the list for the award. I can say for sure that the names of candidates are not taken out of nowhere – each CPJ regional program provides a list of journalists, who, in our opinion, have proven their commitment to freedom of speech and journalism. As stated in our press release, the four winners of the International prize for freedom of the press in 2012 risked their lives and liberty to reveal abuses of power and human rights violations in their own countries – Brazil, Liberia, China, and Kyrgyzstan. Due to their work, each of them was subjected to brutal repression, including assaults, threats, and torture. Two of the awardees – Azimjan Askarov and Vanchen Dhondup, a documentary filmmaker from Tibet – were arrested and sentenced to life in prison because of their work. As Joel Simon, CPJ’s director general, said: “We are inspired by these journalists who have paid a high price for their enduring dedication to the truth.”

Jarayon: Was the Committee to Protect Journalists able to pass this news directly to Azimjon Askarov himself?

Muzaffar Suleymanov: Unfortunately, CPJ has no direct access to Azimzhan Askarov. Kyrgyz authorities have refused visiting Askarov in prison to CNN journalists, who cooperate with us. However, he told us that he learned about his award from our interview to Voice of America on September 13 2012. In a letter addressed to CPJ, guests of the ceremony and the winners of our award, Askarov said that he listened to the radio in his basement prison cell, and heard my interview with Voice of America, and ​​wept with joy that his work was so highly regarded on the international level. Of course, the letter that Azimjan was able to pass through his lawyers touched us all, and we will do everything to ensure that he could come and receive the award in New York. According to our rules, if the winner is serving a sentence in jail or cannot attend the ceremony for any other reason, the prize is and will be waiting for the moment when the journalist would be able to personally come for it.

Jarayon: We know that recently the Committee to Protect Journalists called on the President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev to immediately release Azimjon Askarov. Was there any official response from the Kyrgyz authorities?

Muzaffar Suleymanov: Unfortunately, the Kyrgyz authorities do not respond to our calls. Neither former president Roza Otunbayeva, nor current leader Almazbek Atambayev responded to our letters and calls to free Askarov or at least to have his case heard in an open and fair trial. We hear their statements of commitment to the ideals of democracy, freedom of speech, and the rule of law, but, as we see from the case Askarov, all this is nothing more than claims. If the Kyrgyz authorities really mean what they say, they should release Askarov and bring to justice those who had put him in jail and tortured in detention. Until then, Kyrgyzstan will remain the only country in Europe and Central Asia, to sentence a journalist and human rights activist to life imprisonment. And I assure you that we will do all we can to make the international community and public know about it. As I told you earlier, our board of directors consists of journalists from around the world, and they will not leave a colleague in trouble.

Jarayon: What other measure the Committee to Protect Journalists will take to release Azimjon Askarov from prison?

Muzaffar Suleymanov: We are working on the case Askarov from June 2010, the date of his arrest, and will work on, and use every opportunity and platform for his release. As you may know, this year in June we published and presented to the international public the report detailing the whole course of events in the case of Askarov: cases he covered at the very beginning of his work, inter-ethnic conflict in 2010, and what he did during the time of the tragic events, threats against him, his arrest, torture, and the judicial process, which was rather a farce, than a fact of justice. You know, Askarov was convicted on trumped-up charges that are absolutely not based on single evidence. One can see it with naked eyes just reading his verdict. (I should note that there are many other cases like this, and Kyrgyzstan should review them). This report, with supporting documents on the case of Askarov, was passed to the president Atambayev by Kyrgyz ambassador to the U.S., but so far there was no reaction from the Kyrgyz side.

Kyrgyz authorities have chosen to ignore numerous facts of violations in Askarov’s case, which were acknowledged many other human rights organizations, including the Kyrgyz ombudsman Tursunbek Akun, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, and the UN special envoy against Torture Juan Mendez. All this was noted in the award ceremony, and Kyrgyzstan will have to answer very unpleasant questions from the international community. These questions will be asked not only by the state leaders and journalists, but also by ordinary people who signed our petition in support of Askarov. All of them, like us, are wondering when the authorities, who call themselves supporters of democracy and the rule of law, finally establish the long awaited justice in Askarov’s case, and release the journalist, who was sentenced to life imprisonment because of his work.

Jarayon: Muzaffar, thank you for the interview.