Azernews.Az

Kyrgyzstan’s interim government has confirmed the apprehension of a prominent ethnic Azerbaijani journalist following eight days of silence.
Justice for Vugar, a movement set up by the colleagues and friends of Vugar Khalilov, a British citizen, said quoting a source at Britain’s Foreign Office that Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Ministry had informed the British embassy in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan about the arrest in writing.
Following the arrest of Khalilov, the head of the Flexible Communications public relations agency, in Bishkek on April 12, British Ambassador to Kazakhstan and Non-Resident Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, David Moran, had sent two notes of protest to Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Ministry, but the appeals had long remained unanswered.
The British Foreign Office met the belated reply with "cautious optimism", saying it hopes for forging dialog with the Central Asian state’s authorities on the case of the arrested journalist. It said that according to widespread international practices and international law, following the formal confirmation of Khalilov’s arrest, the entire brunt of responsibility for his safety and the observance of his basic civil rights rests with the Kyrgyz government.
Mike Atsoparthis, the British honorary consul in Bishkek, has repeatedly requested to meet with Khalilov, but as yet to no avail.
Justice for Vugar pointed out that Kyrgyzstan’s reply was dated April 16, but the British side received it in the evening on April 19. The movement said that under the Vienna Convention, Kyrgyzstan is obliged to report the detention of a British citizen within 48 hours.
Khalilov’s defense attorney, Artyom Ivanov, has told the Baku-based ANS TV channel that the journalist was detained by the National Security Service without charges, and he was not allowed to meet with his family members, his lawyer or the British consul. "Only on April 14 the journalist faced a ridiculous charge of legalizing unlawfully acquired money," Ivanov said.
Observers say that the actual reason for Khalilov’s arrest could have been his close ties with Maksim Bakiyev, the son of Kyrgyzstan’s deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Notably, Khalilov’s PR agency was involved in creating Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s website during the country’s presidential elections in 2009.
The former president’s family members have managed to leave Kyrgyzstan, and no information is available about the tens of millions of dollars missing from the state budget. The Kyrgyz public has called on the newly-formed government to find and prosecute those responsible for the embezzlement. It is possible that the authorities hope that Khalilov could shed light on the circumstances of the case, analysts say.*