Watchdog

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- An independent newspaper in Kazakhstan has lost its appeal against its suspension.

On August 22, the Almaty City Court upheld the decision to halt the operations of "Pravdivaya gazeta" (The Truthful Newspaper) for three months.

Earlier this month, the Almaty Administrative Court suspended the newspaper, saying that the periodical's editors had failed to correctly report its circulation numbers.

The weekly newspaper's editors say the court's decision is politically motivated.

In April, officers from the city's Interior Policies Department confiscated the newspaper's first issue.

The authorities cited a "failure to clearly show exact publication dates in registration documents."

Also in April, the European Parliament adopted a resolution criticizing Astana for failing to respect political, media, and religious freedoms.

Kazakh authorities banned dozens of opposition and independent media outlets in December for carrying what Kazakh authorities deemed "extremist content."

London-based rights group Amnesty International is expressing concern over the fate of a Tajik citizen reportedly detained in Uzbekistan.

In a statement issued on August 21, the group said that Abdumavlon Abdurakhmonov, 38, has been detained without access to his family since April.

His family fears that he is at risk of being subjected to torture and other abuse.

Abdurakhmonov's ex-wife in Uzbekistan called his relatives in Tajikistan after he visited her and their child in April and said Uzbek security officers had taken him away without any explanation.

Tajik officials later received an official statement from the Uzbek Foreign Ministry denying that Abdurakhmonov had been detained.

The Tajikistan's ombudsman has not received a reply from his Uzbek counterpart to his letter requesting assistance in the matter.