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 disinformation and Russian propaganda.
Radio Ozodlik remains the only media outlet in Uzbekistan providing comprehensive, daily coverage of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“Freedom Inquiries,” Radio Ozodlik’s flagship investigative series, uncovers money laundering and public corruption.
“Ozodso’z,” a special project produced by Radio Ozodlik, tells the stories of journalists and bloggers who have been jailed and persecuted during Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s presidency.
Radio Ozodlik’s investigation revealed how the Mirziyoyev government’s campaign to expand Uzbekistan’s solar power industry is plagued by corruption and leading to billions of dollars in debt.
Special video series Between Floods and Droughts covers Uzbekistan’s increasing difficulties with water management and an uptick in droughts in the region.
Radio Ozodlik covered Uzbekistan’s historic 2024 Olympic delegation, which saw its first-ever female gold medalist and strengthened ties among the Central Asian countries.
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 closed in 2005 after reporting on the Andijan Massacre; 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.
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