The Ministry of Internal Affairs today announced that slain journalist Alisher Saipov was supported by the "U.S. National Center for Democracy." It's not clear exactly which organization this is, because directly translated from Russian this name does not exist, but it could mean the National Democratic Institute (NDI). It's highly probably Saipov attended some kind of NGO training sponsored by NDI, though hundreds of civil society types around the country can make that claim too.
The Ministry also announced Saipov had close links to "extremist" islamic groups, as well as Uzbek opposition groups. The two are often associated with each other by the Uzbek government. Ministry officials further announced they know who the killer is based on ballistic evidence found at the scene of the crime, but they did not reveal any names and did not claim to know where this suspect is.
All of this information comes out after Ministry agents scoured Saipov's hard drive and apartment for information. Journalists and activists fear the Ministry will use this murder investigation as an excuse to trump up unrelated charges against them and opposition groups. Undoubtedly Saipov had links to these groups, especially when his raison d'etre was to expose the repressive activities of both the Uzbek and Kyrgyz governments. How far they supported him materially and used him as a propaganda tool we may never know, for it's hard to truly believe the Kyrgyz government, not to mention Uzbek authorities. Are Kyrgyz authorities now trying to lambast Saipov through accusations of treasonous associations in order to please the Uzbek government? Surely the Uzbek's are pushing for this, but whether the Kyrgyz are caving in to this pressure only time will tell.
Meanwhile, Journalists Public Union of Kyrgyzstan is calling for all journalists in the country to unite and boycott coverage of the Kyrgyz police in light of their failure to solve any of the dozen or so cases of violence against journalists tallied so far this year. Certainly the Saipov case prompted this call, and a seemingly random case of a local tv reporter getting bitten on the face at the Osh Bazaar by an angered (and apparently hungry) drug dealer only adds to the siege mentality they all must be feeling. Is it now open season on journos in the KR? Well, they shouldn't feel intentionally neglected by police, since local police seem to neglect investigating all but a few high profile crimes. Unless you can pay the right price, and then the police will turn into heroic private investigators for you.
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