Watchdog

BISHKEK -- The Bishkek City Court has rejected appeals by several politicians and activists against their two-month pretrial detention on charges of planning mass disorder over the government’s border demarcation agreement with neighboring Uzbekistan.

More than 20 men and women were detained in late October after they protested against the deal, according to which Kyrgyzstan will hand over the territory of the Kempir-Abad water reservoir covering 4,485 hectares to Uzbekistan in exchange for over 19,000 hectares elsewhere.

Those detained include the former Kyrgyz ambassador to Malaysia, Azimbek Beknazarov, former lawmaker Asia Sasykbaeva, well-known politicians Kanat Isaev, Jenis Moldokmatov, and Ravshan Jeenbekov, human rights defender Rita Karasartova, and other noted public figures and activists.

On November 9, the court upheld the pretrial detentions of former Central Election Commission member Gulnara Jurabaeva, politician Perizat Suranova, former regional Governor Aibek Buzurmankulov, the former chief of the State Committee of National Security, Kengeshbek Duishobaev, and activists Taalai Mademinov, Atai Beishebek, and Ali Shabdan, who originally had been remanded in pretrial detention until at least December 20.

Appeals filed by other detained politicians and activists will be considered by the court in the coming days.

In a statement on October 25, Human Rights Watch urged the government of the Central Asian nation to immediately release the politicians and activists, and to publish all of the details of the deal on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border demarcation.

The Kempir-Abad reservoir, which was built in 1983, is located in the fertile Ferghana Valley and represents a vital regional water source. Uzbekistan, whose population of 35 million is five times larger than that of Kyrgyzstan, uses the majority of the water.

The two Central Asian countries share a border that is more than 1,300-kilometers long.

Many Kyrgyz civil activists, opposition politicians, and residents living close to the dam are against the deal.

They say Uzbekistan could continue using the dam's water, but the reservoir's land should remain within Kyrgyzstan's border.

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and his allies claim the deal benefits Kyrgyzstan and that Kyrgyz farmers will still have access to the water.

Last week, Uzbek Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov and his Kyrgyz counterpart, Jeenbek Kulubaev, signed a number of documents on border delimitation in Bishkek, including the agreement on jointly managing the Kempir-Abad water reservoir.

Iran’s intelligence minister says the London-based Iran International news channel has been designated as a "terrorist" organization and that employees and those "related" to the outlet will be prosecuted.

Speaking in an interview with the website of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ismail Khatib said that any connection with the Persian-language broadcaster would be considered cooperation with terrorists and a threat to national security.

He also attacked the United Kingdom for hosting three Persian-language TV channels and threatened that Britain "will pay for its actions to harm the security of Iran."

Iran International, Manoto TV, and BBC Persian are all headquartered in London, aimed at Iranian viewers, and broadcast free-to-air by satellite.

Iran International has yet to comment on the designation. Khatib did not say whether the other two broadcasters also received the "terrorist organization" designation. Iran International is believed to have links to the Saudi Arabian government, Tehran’s regional rival.

The move comes weeks after a senior Iranian judiciary official said the broadcasters should be given the designation for supposedly inciting riots that are currently sweeping across the country.

Officials have tried to blame Western governments for the unrest, which was sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while she was in police custody for an alleged dress-code violation relating to how she was wearing a head scarf.

They have not presented any evidence to back up the claim, but have used it in part to launch a deadly crackdown on dissent, the media, and civil society that rights groups say has resulted in more than 300 deaths and thousands of arrests.

Iran's Ministry of Intelligence had previously named employees of Iran International as "enemies of the state," saying that those who "serve foreigners" and "betray the country" will be punished.

The move by Tehran comes a day after Iran International said in a statement that London's Metropolitan Police had informed the broadcaster of an imminent threat against two of its journalists and their families.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda