Uzbek Service
Radio Ozodlik provides independent news and information inside Uzbekistan, one of the world’s most closed and authoritarian societies.
Website page views
(2024)
Facebook video views
(2024)
Instagram video views
(2024)
YouTube video views
(2024)
About the Service
Since 1953, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, Radio Ozodlik, has been an essential alternative to state-run media that counters government and Russian propaganda.
Radio Ozodlik remains the only media outlet in Uzbekistan providing comprehensive, daily coverage of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Journalists report about Uzbekistan’s connection to the war, including detailing the recruitment of Central Asian citizens into the conflict.
Ozodlik rigorously documents the state of human rights in Uzbekistan, exposing issues like sexual violence against children, forced labor, and instances of government-imposed censorship.
Radio Ozodlik provides essential coverage of China’s creeping influence in the country, such as the government’s forced transfer of fertile agricultural land from local farmers to Chinese businesses under the guise of state-backed development.
The series “Came Not to Leave: China’s Trap,” uncovered China’s rapidly tightening grip over Uzbekistan and the wider Central Asian region, exposing Beijing’s strategy of debt-driven dominance.
Reaching Audiences
Media Climate
Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index ranks Uzbekistan 148th out of 180 countries.
The Service operates from Prague since the Tashkent bureau was forced to close in 2005 after reporting on the Andijan Massacre. The Service’s websites are blocked within the country.
Radio Ozodlik journalists received death threats before the 2021 presidential election.
Latest Updates
RFE/RL President Jamie Fly Visits Central Asia
During visits to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan this week, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) President & CEO Jamie Fly met with top government officials, human rights activists, and independent journalists.
RFE/RL Reports Increased Attacks On Its Journalists
On the UNESCO International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has documented an expanding use of restrictive acts and intimidation targeting its journalists in no…
RFE/RL Reporters Faced ‘Relentless Pressure’ In 12 Of 23 Countries In 2017
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalists have been targeted in no fewer than 38 incidents in at least 12 of the countries they cover in 2017.
Service Director
Alisher Sidikov
Alisher Sidikov is the Service Director of RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, known locally as Radio Ozodlik. Under his leadership, the service has become a pioneer in using the latest digital platforms to break the information blockade in one of the world’s most closed societies. Sidikov reported on the Andijon massacre in Uzbekistan in 2005, and earlier worked for the BBC’s Uzbek service in Tashkent and London. He was named “Journalist of the Year” by Reporters Without Borders-Stockholm in 2005. He holds an M.A. and B.A. in Middle East Politics and Arabic Studies from the University of Oriental Studies in Tashkent.