His Excellency Kurmanbek Bakiyev
President of Kyrgyzstan
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

5 November 2007

Your Excellency,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to express our grave concern at the murder of journalist Alisher Saipov.

According to reports, on 24 October Mr Saipov, editor of the independent Uzbek-language weekly Siyosat (Politics) and contributor to several regional news outlets, was shot three times at close range by an unknown gunman in Osh, a city bordering Uzbekistan. Mr Saipov covered political and social issues in Uzbekistan for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Voice of America and the Central Asia news website Ferghana.

Mr Saipov had reportedly recently interviewed members of the banned Islamic groups Hizb-ut Tahrir and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. He had also been critical of Uzbek President Islam Karimov. Prior to his murder, Mr Saipov had reportedly received anonymous threats warning him to stop his press and political activities.

We respectfully call on you to ensure that a swift and thorough investigation into Mr Saipov’s murder is held and that those responsible are quickly brought to justice.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Gavin O’Reilly
President
World Association of Newspapers

George Brock
President
World Editors Forum

WAN is the global organization for the newspaper industry, with formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. The organization groups 18,000 newspapers in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups. WAN is non-governmental and non-profit.