DEUTSCHE WELLE REPORTER BUSHUYEVA HARASSED

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000755 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/19/2016 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL UZ SUBJECT: DEUTSCHE WELLE REPORTER BUSHUYEVA HARASSED REF: A) TASHKENT 512 B) TASHKENT 352 Classified By: AMB. JON R. PURNELL, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D). ¶1. (C) Deutsche Welle reporter Natalia Bushuyeva told Poloff that she has been the subject of extensive harassment since March 28, when she began receiving hundreds of telephone calls inquiring about sexual services and the sale of her apartment. Anonymous individuals posted fliers stating that her three room apartment needed to be sold quickly at a cheap price, and listing her phone number. Other notices around Tashkent featured her phone number under a photo of a busty blonde with captions including "massage services" and "sauna." ¶2. (C) Bushuyeva told Poloff that she believes the National Security Service (NSS) organized the harassment. She noted that in early March, two NSS officers had visited her residential building, asking neighbors questions about her lifestyle. Bushuyeva, who is not accredited, has refrained from writing any articles since the passage of a February Cabinet of Ministers resolution forbidding reporters from working for non-accredited media organizations (ref A). Deutsche Welle quickly fell victim to this resolution, with the MFA denying its Bukhara stringer Obid Shabanov accreditation, and warning the broadcaster to cease all cooperation with non-accredited stringers, including Bushuyeva. ¶3. (C) Comment: The attack on Bushuyeva is likely part of an ongoing smear campaign by the GOU against independent journalists, aimed at silencing them or driving them out of the country. The operation to spread the Bushuyeva fliers around Tashkent seems to have been well planned and coordinated. Bushuyeva's belief that the NSS is behind the campaign against her is well within the realm of possibility. The NSS is also believed to have published fabricated defamatory allegations about journalists on Internet sites under state control, such as a recent incident involving a former Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent (ref B). PURNELL