Wave of brutal attacks shocks Kyrgyz journalists

Sitting in a dim corner of a coffee shop in central Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Olga Kolosova is holding back her tears. "I could not believe what had happened until I saw him in the hospital," she said. "I was hoping until the very last moment that there was some kind of a mistake." But there was not. Her partner of eight years, Gennady Pavluk, was lying unconscious in a hospital in Almaty, a city in neighboring Kazakhstan. The journalist had been thrown from the sixth floor of an apartment block with his hands and feet tied together. He died several days later, still in a coma. Gennady Pavluk's death sent shockwaves through the media and Kyrgyz society. People here are no strangers to reports of the harassment and intimidation of journalists.