BBC to hold vigil for journalist detained in Tajikistan

The BBC is to hold a vigil today for detained journalist Urunboy Usmonov.

Usmonov, who has worked for the BBC Central Asian Service for the past decade, is understood to have been detained by security staff in the country last Tuesday.

The vigil will take place at 1pm on the steps of the World Service building, Bush House.

Reports from the Tajikistan news agency Press.tj on 18 June, accused the BBC correspondent of being a member of banned Islamist group Hizbut-Tahrir.

According to the BBC, Usmonov was brought to his home by security agents and appeared to have been beaten up. The agents then searched his home and took him away.

The BBC has repeatedly called for Usmonov’s release, claiming that the accusations against him “represent a breach of legal practice and a serious violation of presumption of innocence”.

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  1. Pingback: BBC: Detained reporter is ‘physically and psychologically frail’ | Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog

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