Uzbekistan: online publication was forced to remove anti-Islamist material
On December 19, the online newspaper Anhor.uz published the article “Let’s look into the past” about the recent history of religious fanaticism in Uzbekistan. It remained available for several hours and then disappeared.
Online newspaper “News of Uzbekistan” posted the material on its page. The author Mansur Ibragimov anxiously assesses “the consequences of the way of thinking implanted by religious fanatics, clear signs of creeping religious extremism”.
As an example, he cites the act of vandalism in Kokand, where, by order of the hokim, they painted over (“dressed”) the fresco by artist Bakhodir Dzalalov “Meeting of East and West”. The columnist saw events logically connected with each other – the actual destruction of the fresco by a local official, the shooting of Buddhist sculptures by the Taliban in Afghan Bamiyan, the destruction of the unique museum in Syrian Palmyra by ISIS militants.
Mansour has no doubts that now “under the guise of dubious arguments about the national mentality, prohibitions based on religious restrictions are being introduced into society”.
He also sees the growing conflict, which has not yet come out, between the official statements of senior leaders about ensuring women’s rights, the need to comply with the Constitution and the processes that are going on in the depths of public life.
Allegations of indistinct youth policy were also an irritating factor for the authorities. “There are practically no significant actions, notable projects aimed at training modern, competitive youth,” the journalist notes. “Religious fans become idols for youth”. A search on the site anhor.uz for other articles by Mansur Ibragimov on sensitive topics did not give any result. In the reprint of “News of Uzbekistan”, the hyperlink to another article by the columnist of Anhor.uz was also removed.
When the publication was being prepared, the article, after almost a day’s absence, reappeared and is already opening in the most conspicuous place. As the source told the editorial office, everything allegedly happened due to the incorrect work of the administrator of anhor.uz site.
This is the third incident since September. The story on Kun.uz about the illegal allocation of land was removed shortly after publication on September 15. Then, it appeared in the online publications Gazeta.uz and Daryo.uz. Bloggers also spread the text, which greatly increased the number of people who read the article. Later, the editorial staff of Kun.uz reported that “various persons with positions and means” recommended them to remove the material. Then the article was published again.
On October 4, Gazeta.uz already filmed material about the secret elections of the new chairman of Jokargy Kenesh (the Parliament) of Karakalpakstan, Murat Kamalov. That time, colleagues from the independent publication Hook.report showed professional solidarity by publishing the content of the article taken from the Bing Cache. It was not found in other search engines. After that, a new version of the material was published. On October 21, Murat Kamalov was elected deputy head of the Senate of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan [upper House of Parliament], which automatically makes him untouchable.
The ACCA expert notes that “such cases show the warring factions in power structures and their impact on the media”.
Earlier, ACCA wrote about how in June the authorities forced the Uzbek journalists to remove publications about the head of Fergana region Shukhrat Ganiev, now the country’s deputy prime minister.
