Kyrgyzstan protests over U.S. human rights award to dissident
Source: Reuters
World | Fri Jul 17, 2015 6:41am EDT
Kyrgyzstan protests over U.S. human rights award to dissident
BISHKEK
Kyrgyzstan protested to the United States on Friday over the granting of a human rights award to a dissident who is serving a life sentence for "inciting inter-ethnic hatred" in the former Soviet republic.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of State conferred the 2014 Human Rights Defender Award on Azimjon Askarov, a journalist and activist. His son Sherzod accepted it on his behalf.
Askarov, an ethnic Uzbek, was convicted of "organizing mass disturbances" and stirring up ethnic hatred leading to the killing of a policeman during clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010, when more than 400 people were killed.
Kyrgyzstan's Foreign Ministry handed a protest note to U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Richard Miles on Friday.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/17/us-kyrgyzstan-usa-rights-idUSKCN0PR11620150717