3. Uzbekistan
President Islam Karimov has an effective, though not especially nuanced, method to silence critical voices: His authorities fine, imprison, or deport individual journalists, and shut down newspapers that depart from the official explanation of events. When dealing with critics, a lack of evidence is not necessarily an obstacle. Investigative journalist Victor Krymzalov was fined after being found guilty of defamation for an article in Centrasia.ru that was published without a byline. Another independent journalist, Elena Bondar, was convicted on the unusual charge of "collective libel" for an article about the closing of a university. One imprisoned journalist, Muhammad Bekjanov -- who was charged with attempting to overthrow the regime -- was due to be released in January when Kazan's district court sentenced him to an additional five years on charges of breaking unspecified prison rules.
Uzbekistan has been placed on the Committee to Protect Journalists' lists of top media censors and leading jailers of journalists.
PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images
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