Agnieszka Pikulicka

Affiliated media: Al Jazeera, Journalist

Incident date: November 7, 2021

Attack type:

• Ban on entering the country, denial or revocation of a visa / accreditation

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Committee to Protect Journalists

Location: Uzbekistan, Tashkent

Additional information:

Border guards denied Polish journalist Agnieszka Pikulicka entry to Uzbekistan due to restrictions related to the COVID-19, leaving her overnight on the Uzbek-Kazakh border checkpoint. On November 8, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs allowed her to enter Uzbekistan to pack her personal belongings in 10 minutes and then leave the country. In July, the journalist was not prolonged accreditation because of the accusations of «humiliation of honour and dignity of citizens» and «propaganda of interethnic and religious hatred». Pikulicka sees the attack as retaliation for her reporting on LGBT issues, a sensitive topic in Uzbekistan.