The editor-in-chief of a popular Kyrgyzstan newspaper, De Facto, is facing a charge of criminal libel, which carries a five-year jail sentence. Cholpon Orozbekova is accused of publishing false accusations against a tax inspector. Her paper cannot be published because police have seized its computers, along with its bank account and other assets.
Orozbekova says the libel case is the culmination of mounting pressure from the Kyrgyz authorities over the last six months. "The authorities want to shut down the only opposition newspaper," she says. (Via IWPR)
