Kyrgyz Journalist In Coma After Falling From Window

BISHKEK -- Well-known Kyrgyz journalist Gennady Pavlyuk is in a coma after apparently falling from a sixth-floor window in Almaty on December 16, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Omurbek Tekebaev, the leader of the Kyrgyz opposition Ata Meken (Fatherland) party, told RFE/RL that Pavlyuk was in the party's office in Bishkek earlier this week to discuss details of a joint media project before leaving for Almaty.

Tekebaev did not rule out the possibility that Pavlyuk was pushed out of the window.

The Kyrgyz Interior Ministry's press service told journalists that police in Almaty are investigating the incident.

Pavlyuk is a prominent Kyrgyz journalist of Russian origin. He used to work for the "Vecherny Bishkek" (Evening Bishkek) newspaper and Russia's "Argumenty i fakty" weekly.

He is also known as the founder of the "White Steamer" newspaper and website.

This is the third time in the last two weeks that a Kyrgyz journalist of Russian origin has been injured.

On December 16, unknown assailants in Bishkek beat up Aleksandr Evgrafov, a reporter for the Russian BaltInfo news agency.

On December 9, unknown assailants attacked and beat Aleksandr Knyazev, the director of the Bishkek branch of the Commonwealth of Independent States Institute.