Watchdog

Directors of the Bishkek-based Stan-TV media organization say the decision by Kyrgyz officials to suspend its activities is politically motivated, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Stan-TV directors Kirill Stepanyuk and Ilya Sivokhin said at a press conference in Bishkek today that their company will continue to operate despite pressure from Kyrgyz authorities.

On April 1, the financial police sealed the company's offices due to an investigation into the company's alleged "illegal software usage and tax evasion."

Stan-TV has been operating legally in Bishkek since May 29, 2007. It covers socioeconomic, political, and cultural events in Kyrgyzstan and the four other Central Asian countries.

Several opposition politicians and human rights activists have condemned the authorities' decision to seal the Stan-TV offices.

The Novosibirsk garrison court in western Siberia today sentenced an officer to four and 1/2 years in jail for bullying that led to a soldier's suicide, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

Officer Vitaly Rasulov was found guilty of beating and intimidating three enlisted servicemen, one of whom committed suicide last year.

Private Pavel Padcha-Kuli hanged himself in September after Rasulov had severely beaten and humiliated him.