Azimjon Askarov

Affiliated media: Journalist, Human Rights Activist

Incident date: July 25, 2020

Attack type:

• Death whilst in custody or as a result of loss of health in captivity

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

Location: Kyrgyzstan, Jany-Jer, Chuy Province

Additional information:

Azimjon Askarov died in colony No. 19 in the village of Jany-Jer, Chuy Province of Kyrgyzstan. Askarov had health problems, but the State Penitentiary Service insisted that the human rights activist sentenced to life imprisonment had no health issues. Askarov was jailed in June 2010 for reporting on ethnic conflicts in southern Kyrgyzstan, and had previously written about corruption among law enforcement officials in the country for more than a decade.