Kyrgyzstan reporter stabbed, beaten

Source: NZ Herald News

A reporter and vocal government critic in Kyrgyzstan was stabbed and beaten in an attack that opposition parties described as an attempt to stamp out freedom of expression.

Syrgak Abdyldayev, a journalist with the Reporter-Bishkek weekly, was stabbed repeatedly by four assailants after leaving his office Tuesday evening, the newspaper’s editor, Turat Akimov, said.

Critics of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev say the government is trying to stifle opposition before possibly calling an early presidential election this year in a bid to shore up his power. Electricity shortages and rampant unemployment are causing widespread discontent in the former Soviet nation.

“Attacks on journalists – and even murders – have been taking place more and more often recently, endangering not just reporters themselves but also freedom of speech as a whole,” the opposition Ata-Meken party said.

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