U.S. Calls For Release Of Imprisoned Uzbek Journalist

The United States has urged Uzbekistan to release opposition journalist Muhammad Bekjanov, who has been imprisoned since 1999, and ease restrictions on journalists in the authoritarian Central Asian state.

"We call on the government of Uzbekistan to release Mr. Bekjanov and to take the steps necessary to create space for independent journalists to work without fear of violence," U.S. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke told a May 1 briefing in Washington.

Rights activists call Bekjanov, former editor of the opposition newspaper Erk, one of the longest-imprisoned journalists in the world.

Human Rights Watch says he was jailed after being kidnapped in Kyiv by Uzbek security forces in 1999 and that he has been tortured while in custody. 

Uzbek President Islam Karimov has ruled Uzbekistan since 1989, two years before it gained independence in the collapse of the Soviet Union.

During that time, he has neutralized most of his political opposition, and his government has been accused of frequent human rights abuses.

The 77-year-old Karimov was reelected in a March 29 election with more than 90 percent of the vote, despite a constitutional restriction against any individual serving more than two terms in office.