FREEDOM OF SPEECH?

A letter signed by Deputy Premier Rustam Azizov was cabled to Uzbek media outlets the other day. The letter is essentially an instruction on how the recent events in Andizhan should be covered, according to executive of a Dzhizak regional TV studio who insisted on anonymity.

"The letter is quite explicit. We are supposed to offer "a true picture" of the tragedy in Andizhan consistent with what the president said at his press conferences on May 15 and 17," the executive said.

Local correspondents point out, however, that ordinary Uzbeks' opinions of the Andizhan tragedy certainly differ from the official. Many of them speak their mind openly knowing that these words cannot be traced to them.

"It's really absurd," to quote an executive of the Uzbek State TV and Radio Company. "When we try to gauge public opinion in the street and ask respondents to read the text we've already drafted, they refuse and calls us cowards and say Islam Karimov alone is to be blamed for what happened in Andizhan."

TV crews are forced to resort to all sorts of tricks in order to carry out Azimov's orders and report that "Karimov defeated dark forces in Andizhan."

"The situation being what it is, professors of local colleges and universities are of great help. Threatening students with expulsion, they force their students to go in front of TV cameras and say what we need said," correspondent of a Tashkent TV channel admitted.

A lot of Uzbeks are convinced that the tragic events in Andizhan have finally unmasked the true face of the regime. The regime makes it plain now that it alone has the monopoly on information. Azimov's orders instilled fear in the state-controlled and allegedly independent TV and radio studios.

"When soldiers were firing at unarmed crowds, TV studios entertained the audience with series and cheap thrillers," embittered residents of Dzhizak say. "They even ran comedies when bodies of murdered women and children were still scattered in front of the Andizhan khokimijat [administration]."