OSH, Kyrgyzstan -- A former policeman will be tried next week for involvement in the killing of independent Kyrgyz journalist Alisher Saipov, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
Saipov's father, Avaz Saipov, told RFE/RL that Abdu Farid Rasulov, who had worked as a policeman in the southern Kyrgyz town of Leilek, is due to be tried on December 9.
Saipov, 26, was an ethnic Uzbek journalist who often wrote critical articles about Uzbek President Islam Karimov and his government.
Saipov, who also worked as a correspondent for RFE/RL and Voice of America, was shot dead as he left his office in central Osh in 2007.
His relatives and colleagues believe he may have been killed by Uzbek secret services in retaliation for his critical articles. But Kyrgyz officials have said that Saipov's murder was not related to his journalistic activities.