Uzbekistan ranked 147th out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, rising by one position compared to 2025. The state of press freedom in the country is described as “very serious.” The country’s overall score slightly declined — to 34.95 compared to 35.24 a year earlier, indicating …
Today, another hearing in the case of blogger Aziz Hakimov (Comrade Aziz) took place at the Shaykhantakhur District Criminal Court of Tashkent. The proceedings, held behind closed doors, were marked by an important procedural decision and aggressive behavior by the defendant’s “support group” toward an independent journalist. Court decision: correcting errors Following today’s hearing, the …
On January 20, 2026, the Margilan City Criminal Court found journalist Elyor Tojiboev guilty under a number of articles of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan and sentenced him to four years of imprisonment to be served in a strict-regime colony. In the information published by the press service of the courts of the Fergana Region, …
According to statements from two sources connected to the organization of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Uzbekistan, the selection of journalists for his press conference in Tashkent was handled not through the press service of the U.S. Embassy, but through the Uzbek side. I was not invited to the event. Several other …