Journalist Shokhrukh Saipov, who spoke about problems with taxi drivers at the Osh airport and at the Dostuk border checkpoint, is again threatened. In an interview with ACCA, he spoke about who is trying to intimidate him and how law enforcement agencies react to this
— What kind of threats do you receive, in what form, and from whom do they come?
— The main threats I receive are through social networks. In PM, they leave comments to me and make posts with threats against me. They write that I am inciting ethnic hatred, that if I don’t like Kyrgyzstan, then I can go live in Uzbekistan, they ask why I am defending Uzbeks, and they recommend to be careful. Most of these posts and comments I attached to the application to the police. At the same time, threats come not only through social networks but also through my friends. They ask for my contacts and address. They come to my brothers, they try to collect more information about my activities.
— Why did they begin to threaten now, as your resonant publication appeared back in February?
— The first publication was in February, and the second was published on July 21. In February, I published a post on the situation at the Dostuk border with Uzbekistan. Then I did not have photos and videos, but I witnessed the conflict. The next day I was called to the police station and asked about the facts. Law enforcement officers said that it was necessary to take video and photos. I told them that there are video cameras there and they can take it from there.
On July 21, I was at the Osh airport at night – I met my friends from Uzbekistan. And there I had a conflict with a taxi driver. He forbade me to pick up my guests: he said that out of four people I can pick up one, the rest they [taxi drivers] will take themselves. I objected because these are my guests. As a result, in order to pick up my acquaintances, I turned to the policeman for help. I filmed the whole thing and on the same day, I wrote a post on Facebook along with the video.
— Did the policeman help you when you turned to him for help?
— Yes, he helped. He told the taxi driver to stop pressuring me as they were my guests.
— Have you contacted law enforcement agencies about the threats? What was the reaction?
— The application was accepted, they said that they had begun an investigation, they were looking for people who threatened me.
— Are the threats still ongoing?
— Yes, the threats continue to this day. I usually walk around the city, I don’t have a car. They are trying to provoke me to make it look like a conflict at the everyday level. I control myself and do not give in to emotions in order to avoid a collision. They behave aggressively. I also feel like I’m being watched all the time. I can see the same person several times a day, I think this is not an accident.
— Tell me, do you think the threats you receive are real? Do they threaten your life and health?
— The bad thing is that these people do not come directly to me, they do not want to have a dialogue, to talk like a human being. They behave aggressively and act through acquaintances. They want not only to harm me, but they intend to involve me in a provocation so that I am guilty.
Speaking about how real the threats are, I think they are real. Before that, I already had such examples. In 2011, I was beaten at the airport under the same circumstances. However, now, I think, the situation is more complicated. Because I know that the airport canceled the agreement with these aggressive taxi drivers, and they blame me for losing their jobs. They make statements on social networks “that because of Shokhrukh, because of the Uzbeks, we were left without work”. I understand their aggression.
— In February, you were interrogated by the police. What were the law enforcement officers talking about then?
— They asked about evidence. They said they were investigating. They also told me that when there is no statement from the victims, law enforcement agencies limit themselves to only a warning. Law enforcers say that for a full-fledged investigation, it is necessary to write a statement. I told them that the Uzbeks would not do that. They do not want to.
— Are you convinced that these intimidations are connected with the fact that you raised the problem of taxi driver lawlessness? Has there been a case like this before?
— As a journalist, I often raise difficult topics, and people who are dissatisfied with this try to interfere with my work. But all this is more related to my professional activities, and not to nationality.
— Did someone write about the Osh mafia of taxi drivers before you? Or were others afraid to touch this explosive topic?
— No, none of my colleagues raised this topic before me. But people are simple, they say they face such problems. I have often heard about it. And when I witnessed lawlessness at the border, I decided to write about it.
— Is it true that the mafia of taxi drivers at the Osh airport has existed since 2014-15? They say that there is a group of young people who simply take a share from all taxi drivers, and it is the law enforcement agencies that protect them.
— I can’t say about 2014-15, because then the border was closed. Starting in 2017, the border was opened, then this situation began. Namely, aggressive taxi drivers appeared after the pandemic, after 2020. I heard that taxi drivers are related to some kind of organized crime group. But this is unconfirmed information. I also can’t say anything about law enforcement agencies, whether they are connected with them or not.
Another point that I would like to note is that the district police officers who exercise control are young guys, maximum of 30 years old. They can’t do anything about aggressive taxi drivers. There are employees of the SCNS department, and in my opinion, they should take action.
— Will you continue to work on this sensitive topic?
— I will definitely continue to raise this topic. I am not doing this for my own purposes, the image of my state is at stake. As a Kyrgyz citizen, I am offended, I do not want citizens of neighboring countries to speak badly about Kyrgyzstan. You can say that I do all this because of patriotism.
