Christian Reporter Officially Deported

(Forum 18) – The Uzbek government has now (13 August) officially deported Forum 18 News Service’s Central Asia Correspondent, Igor Rotar, after detaining him without justification at Tashkent Airport on 11 August. The detention was ordered, so Forum 18 was told, “for political reasons at the highest levels,” on the instructions of the National Security Service secret police. Initially the Uzbek intention was to try and force Igor to buy his own ticket out and claim that he was not deported, but his principled strong objections to this tactic resulted in his official deportation. Igor Rotar’s unjustified detention in Uzbekistan attracted strong expressions of support and concern from a wide range of individuals, human rights organizations, foreign ministries and news and other international organisations. Forum 18 and Igor Rotar would like to say a very big THANK YOU to everyone who by their prayers and practical actions helped end this totally unjustified detention. Attention should, however, remain on the extremely grave human rights situation still faced by Uzbekistan ‘s people.