Petition on the behalf of imprisoned Uzbek journalist Salijon Abdurakhmanov
Her Excellency Dr. Angela Merkel
Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany
Dear Chancellor Merkel,
We, the undersigned, ask for your support and assistance in getting the government of Uzbekistan to release the 64-year-old journalist Salijon Abdurakhmanov from prison.
We ask you to take a minute of your time and call the Uzbek President Islam Karimov to personally ask him to release Abdurakhmanov.
With your aid we have a rare opportunity to help an innocent man who was sentenced in 2008 to ten years imprisonment. On November 30 Salijon Abdurakhmanov will be awardedthe Johann-Philipp-Palm-Award for Freedom of Speech and the Press in Schorndorf, Germany.
The Uzbek authorities should not continue to hold a person in prison who is receiving an award for freedom of speech and journalistic accomplishment in Germany.
Salijon Abdurakhmanov was the only independent journalist in Karakalpakstan, republic within Uzbekistan, which now faces an environmental disaster due to the disappearance of the Aral Sea. Since Abdurakhmanov’s arrest the region has lost its only independent voice and an important observer and critic of the government.
Chancellor Merkel, you are a busy politician and an esteemed world leader. Uzbekistan is rarely on your agenda, but that country has provided a base for the German military in Termez, since 2001.
Please call Islam Karimov, Chancellor Merkel! It will only take a minute of your time while a day in Uzbek prison is an eternity. Please give the gift of freedom to a good person and an excellent journalist.
With hope and gratitude,
Uzbekistan Press Freedom Group
International Human Rights Association “Fiery Hearts Club”
Reporters Without Borders
ACAT France
“Fiery Hearts” Students Movement
Initiative group “For a life without torture”
Committee on Protection of Migrants’ Rights
November 2014
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