Watchdog

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian has dissolved a task force established to investigate last year's deadly postelection violence in Yerevan, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports.

A presidential spokesman told RFE/RL that last week Sarkisian criticized task force members for failing to "rid themselves of their political agendas."

In March 2008, opposition activists protested in downtown Yerevan against what they said were manipulated presidential election results.

Ten people died and more than 200 were injured as protesters clashed with security forces.

Officials accused protesters of trying to overthrow the government, and dozens are still in jail on such charges.

Sarkisian assembled the five-person, bipartisan task force to investigate the incident, but the chairman resigned last month, citing a stalemate among members.

Opposition task force member Andranik Kocharian told RFE/RL that the resignation confirmed to him that "the whole process was going to end like that."

The other opposition member of the task force, Seda Safarian, told RFE/RL that Sarkisian's announcement "confirmed my belief that nobody wants to find out the truth about March 1."

A Kyrgyz journalist who wrote for an opposition periodical was severely beaten on June 5, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Abduvakhab Moniev, 34, of the opposition "Achyk sayasat" (Open Politics) weekly was hospitalized with multiple injures and bruises after unknown assailants attacked him in Bishkek on June 5.

The newspaper's deputy editor in chief, Ryskeldi Mombekov, told RFE/RL that the attack was connected to Moniev's work.

Moniev had written a series of articles critical of top government official, with Kyrgyzstan set to hold a presidential election on July 23.

Mombekov said that Moniev had received several threatening phone calls recently.