Authorities in Tajikistan have released BBC correspondent Urinboy Usmonov, although they have placed him under judicial control. He had been held since June 13. His release was announced yesterday by prosecutor general Sherkhan Salimzade.
“We are pleased that Usmonov has been freed and is now back with his family after a month in detention, but we reiterate our call for the withdrawal of all the charges against him,” Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said.
His lawyer, Fayziniso Vohidova, told RSF that he was released because “the charges against him were changed, in the absence of evidence against him” and because of “the pressure from the international community and organizations that defend journalists.”
Usmonov is now charged with being in contact with the outlawed Islamist party Hizb-ut-Tahrir without telling the authorities.
