Preliminary hearings have begun in
Kazakhstan in the trial of three people accused of throwing a journalist to his
death from a high-rise building, RFE's Kazakh Service reports.
Gennady Pavlyuk, an independent Russian journalist from Kyrgyzstan, was thrown
from a building in Almaty on December 16, 2009, with his arms and legs bound.
Pavlyuk, 51, died in a hospital six days later.
The defendants are two Kazakh citizens and a Kyrgyz national who is a former
Kyrgyz security service agent.
At today's hearing in Almaty, the start of the trial was set for June 6.
Pavlyuk's relatives and colleagues say his murder was politically motivated.
But Kazakh investigators claim that the killing was an ordinary crime and had
nothing to do with politics.
Pavlyuk was known in Kyrgyzstan under the pseudonym Rustam Ibragimbek. He
founded the White Steamer newspaper and website. He also wrote for the
newspaper Vecherny Bishkek (Evening Bishkek) and the Russian weekly
Argumenty i fakty.
Read more in Kazakh here: http://www.azattyq.org/content/news/24206447.html
RFE's Kazakh Service and O wire compiled this report.
Kazakhstan in the trial of three people accused of throwing a journalist to his
death from a high-rise building, RFE's Kazakh Service reports.
Gennady Pavlyuk, an independent Russian journalist from Kyrgyzstan, was thrown
from a building in Almaty on December 16, 2009, with his arms and legs bound.
Pavlyuk, 51, died in a hospital six days later.
The defendants are two Kazakh citizens and a Kyrgyz national who is a former
Kyrgyz security service agent.
At today's hearing in Almaty, the start of the trial was set for June 6.
Pavlyuk's relatives and colleagues say his murder was politically motivated.
But Kazakh investigators claim that the killing was an ordinary crime and had
nothing to do with politics.
Pavlyuk was known in Kyrgyzstan under the pseudonym Rustam Ibragimbek. He
founded the White Steamer newspaper and website. He also wrote for the
newspaper Vecherny Bishkek (Evening Bishkek) and the Russian weekly
Argumenty i fakty.
Read more in Kazakh here: http://www.azattyq.org/content/news/24206447.html
RFE's Kazakh Service and O wire compiled this report.