Uzbek Government Vetting Media Outlets

The Uzbek media has faced increasingly tight constraints since a government crackdown on protestors in Andijon in May 2005 (epa) November 22, 2006 -- The Uzbek authorities have begun to carry out comprehensive checks on the legal status of all the country's media outlets.

Official news reports quote the deputy director of the State Press and Information Agency, Utkir Juraev, as saying on November 21 that all media outlets whose registration details and statutes do not fully comply with existing legislation will have to re-register.


Juraev denied charges that the measure is intended to strengthen the government's control of the country's media.


(vesti.uz)