APA, Baku, 31 Jul 2008 – President Ilham Aliyev has signed an executive order on asserting the “Conception on state support for media outlets in Azerbaijan Republic”, President’s press service told APA.

Uznews.net, Nukus, 30 Jul 2008 – The police in Nukus is dragging out the investigation into the case of detained journalist and human rights activist Salijon Abdurahmanov and the reason for this, his lawyer believes, is police’s inability to prove his guilt.

Media.ge, Tbilisi, 30 Jul 2008 – Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) is to organize a week of Freedom of Information in Tbilisi. A ten-day campaign is to start on August 1. The Ambassadori Hotel will host the presentation of the results of the research on the following topics:

Uznews.net, Tashkent, 29 Jul 2008 – The Administration of domain zone “uz” – the Center of Development and Introduction of Computer and Information Technologies UzInfoCom stated today that the number of active domain names in a national segment of the Internet has reached 7005.

Turan, Washington, 28 Jul 2008 – Two leading American political Institutions, the influential Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace published a new (fourth) expert rating of the Failed States Index 2008.  It reflects disability of the authorities to control the territory, demographic, political and economic situation in the country.

Ferghana.ru, Jalalabad, 28 Jul 2008 – Editors and journalists from the Justice for All monthly legal bulletin face charges under criminal defamation laws and, if found guilty, might see their publication closed.

Uznews.net, Tashkent, 25 Jul 2008 – Bobur Yusufjon ugli, dissident writer Yusuf Juma’s son who was given a suspended prison term, has filed a suit with the Uzbek Supreme Court in which he described torture faced in prison by him, his father and brother.

IRFS, Baku, 28 Jul 2008 – On 18 July, the National TV and Radio Council (NTRC) declared Azerbaijan TV and Radio Programming, the “state broadcaster” that is often referred to simply as AzTV, the winner in a tender for a sports channel.

RFE/RL, Washington, 24 Jul 2008 – It’s been more than 15 years since the fall of the Iron Curtain, and several states that once were firmly in the Soviet sphere of influence are now members of the European Union and NATO.

Uznews.net, Tashkent, 26 Jul 2008 – Human Rights Watch has described the expulsion of its representative Igor Vorontsov from Uzbekistan as the Uzbek authorities mocking the EU and urged it to preserve its sanctions against Uzbekistan.

Media.ge, Tbilisi, 26 Jul 2008 – On July 26 the Center for Constitutional Rights office is to host another journalists’ meeting within For Freedom of Information project. In the course of the meeting the past stage of the project will be summarized and current problems and future plans will be discussed.

Uznews.net, Tashkent, 25 Jul 2008 – The Uzbek authorities have expelled the representative of Human Rights Watch, Igor Vorontsov, who has been waiting for accreditation in vain, and banned him from entering the country.

IRFS, Baku, 25 Jul 2008 – “Law in free society is supposed to protect information flow, not to suppress it. Slander shouldn’t be considered a crime. Journalists shouldn’t be subjected to threats, problems, beatings, pressure or arrests.