CCPR/C/130/D/2526/2015 Facts as submitted by the author 2.1 The author is an ethnic Uzbek who was living and working in the city of Osh in Kyrgyzstan. In 2010, he was the director of Mezon TV, an independent private broadcaster. The riots in April 2010 led to the ouster of the then President, Kurmanbek Bakiev, and to the establishment of a provisional Government. Political and inter-ethnic tension escalated. The author’s television company continued its work during this period. According to the author, in cooperation with the Osh regional administration and the mayor of the city of Osh and civil society representatives, Mezon TV broadcast calls for inter-ethnic and political accord. In May and June 2010, numerous attacks against ethnic Uzbeks took place in the cities and regions of Osh and Jalalabad.2 2.2 Subsequently, the author was accused of being among those responsible for the interethnic conflict. He submits that the main grounds for the criminal charges against him were the broadcasting by Mezon TV of a rally that took place on 15 May 2010 in the city of Jalalabad. The author affirms that he was neither physically present during the events of May and June 2010 in Jalalabad, nor did he participate in the organization of the rally, in which 6,000 to 7,000 people took part. During this period, he remained in Osh. According to the author, the material aired featured both Uzbek and Kyrgyz leaders speaking at the rally. This informational material lasted four to seven minutes and did not contain any journalistic commentary. It was the channel’s professional responsibility to inform the public about events of general importance. The author was attending a conference in Bishkek between 5 and 10 June 2010. Due to the chaos in the city, he could not reach his home for two days. The channel’s last broadcast was on 10 June 2010 at 4 a.m.; it featured the mayor of Osh and a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who called upon citizens to remain calm. In June 2010, the author received warnings and threats to his life over the phone on several occasions. Fearing for his and his family’s life and safety, he left the country on an unspecified date in late June. 2.3 On 16 June 2011, Parliament passed a resolution on the information from the temporary parliamentary commission on investigation of the events of 2010. In violation of the principle of the presumption of innocence, paragraph 7 of the resolution listed the author as one of the organizers of the tragic events and as a participant in nationalistic and separatist activities. In direct interference with the judicial process, paragraph 21 of the resolution instructed the judiciary to conclude the judicial proceeding as a matter of urgency. 2.4 On 28 October 2011, unbeknownst to the author, Jalalabad City Court sentenced him in absentia to 14 years’ imprisonment, finding him guilty of participation in separatist acts, and organization of mass disorder and killings, among other things. The author alleges that he was not informed of the trial date and was unable to secure his legal representation at the hearing. He learned about his sentence subsequently from the media. 2.5 The author appealed the sentence to Jalalabad Regional Court. His appeal was rejected on 31 January 2012. 2.6 On 24 March 2014, the author appealed under the supervisory review procedure to the Supreme Court. His appeal was rejected on 13 May 2014. Complaint 3.1 The author claims a violation of his rights under article 14 (1) and (2) of the Covenant. The parliamentary resolution of 16 June 2011 had a negative impact on the courts, and prejudged the outcome of the trial, and thus his right to be tried by a fair and impartial tribunal 2 2 Following the order by the mayor of Osh to shut down Mezon TV, the station never resumed broadcasting and Uzbek-language broadcasts have virtually disappeared in southern Kyrgyzstan. The author refers to relevant United Nations documents annexed to the communication: CERD/C/KGZ/CO/5-7 and CCPR/C/KGZ/CO/2. Notably, the Human Rights Committee, in its concluding observations on the second periodic report of Kyrgyzstan, was “concerned at reports that … some of the Uzbek-language media were closed, including two independent Osh-based Uzbek-language television stations, Mezon TV and Osh TV, following the June 2010 events” (CCPR/C/KGZ/CO/2, para. 27).