ASTANA -- A Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) correspondent, who was detained in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, while covering a protest, has been released after spending several hours in custody.
Police detained Orken Zhoyamergen along with several demonstrators on May 22.
The protests began on May 21 when dozens of homeowners from around Kazakhstan demonstrated in front of the government and parliament buildings in Astana.
They demanded that the government intervene over what they say are excessive mortgage interest rates and foreclosures.
The protesters were returning to the city center on May 22 to resume their demonstration, but police blocked their way and detained some of them, including Zhoyamergen.
HRW Wants Charges Against Journalist Dropped
Elsewhere in Kazakhstan, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the country's authorities to drop criminal charges against an independent journalist and civil society activist Aleksandr Kharlamov and immediately release him from a psychiatric clinic.
Aleksandr Kharlamov
In statement released on May 22, HRW Central Asia researcher Mihra Rittmann said "this is hardly the first time the authorities have used criminal incitement charges to try to silence a peaceful critic."
Kharlamov was arrested in March and charged with inciting religious hatred because of articles he wrote on world religions.
In April, he was sent from his home town of Ridder in Kazakhstan’s northeast to a psychiatric clinic in Almaty and placed under forced observation.
Kharlamov's relatives insist his case is politically motivated.
They say authorities launched investigations against Kharlamov after he published articles that accused Ridder's police of violating people's rights.
Media Watchdog Calls For Probe Into Afghan Journalist's Murder
KABUL -- A leading press freedom organization in Afghanistan, Nai, has demanded an investigation into the killing of a journalist who was found dead after being missing for weeks.
In a statement, Nai called on Afghan authorities to probe the murder of Mohammad Mohsin Hashimi in northern Kapisa Province.
Abdul Woudod Haideri, district governor of Nijrab in Kapisa, told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that Hashimi's body was recovered from a well close to his home. He had stab wounds.
Haideri said that Hashimi, 30, worked for a local radio station called the Voice of Nijrab.
Haidari said that police have arrested three suspects in connection with the murder.
Activists say three journalists have been killed in Afghanistan since the beginning of this year.
During the same period, Nai has recorded 17 incidents of violence against journalists.
"Watchdog" is a blog with a singular mission -- to monitor the latest developments concerning human rights, civil society, and press freedom. We'll pay particular attention to reports concerning countries in RFE/RL's broadcast region.
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