
AKIPRESS.COM - On Tuesday morning, Uzbek immigration authorities denied entry to CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Gulnoza Said (Saidazimova), stating that the immigration system showed that she was not allowed to enter the country.
Said, a U.S. citizen, remained in the Islam Karimov Tashkent International Airport, where authorities said she must reside until she takes a flight to New York scheduled for September 1, Said told CPJ.
Said was making a family visit to Uzbekistan after traveling to Georgia and Latvia on a CPJ mission.
"Uzbekistan authorities should allow Gulnoza Said entry to the country so she can collect her son and return from their family’s holiday in peace. Said was not working in Uzbekistan, and we consider her denial to enter the country to be a form of harassment intended to intimidate her for her work outside of the country reporting and supporting journalists," CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg noted.
Gulnoza Said herself told the Fergana news agency that she "is not allowed into the country, although they let her in without problems five weeks ago and released her two weeks ago".
On Tuesday evening, after remaining in the airport for about five hours, Said was admitted to Uzbekistan. Authorities did not give a reason for her initial refusal.