Independent Uzbek Website 'Suspends' Work

Uzmetronom closed after an Uzbek prosecutor's warning on July 25.

The head of the independent UzMetronom.com news and information website, Sergei Yezhkov, has announced he is indefinitely suspending the site's activities.

Fergananews.com on July 25 posted a letter on its site from Uzbekistan's military prosecutor warning UzMetronom.com's management about violations of the law.

The letter cited reports about the July 23 shooting along the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border that left two Uzbek border guards dead.

Yezhkov said he would attempt to find journalists outside Uzbekistan who specialize in reporting about the country to run the website.

He said he didn't know how long the situation would last.

Yezhkov described the decision to stop publishing from inside Uzbekistan as a "time out" and not cessation of the website's work.

UzMetronom.com has been posting reports about Uzbekistan since 2006.

Based on reporting by UzMetronom.com and Fergananews.com