The UK Press Gazette reports on the barring of BBC reporter Jenny Norton from Uzbekistan. (hat-tip: Mental Wanderlust.) Furthermore, Beeb operations in Uzbekistan appear to be under direct assault.

Of course, it all makes perfect sense if you really believe the claim by the Uzbekistani deputy prosecutor-general in the current Andijon trial, Anvar Nabiyev, that the BBC was guilty of exaggerating the Andijon protests and subsequent government crack-down. (As reported in the guardian here). Then again, you might just think Nabiyev is guilty of over-egging the pudding.

Nonetheless, it’s a pig of a situation for Auntie. According to Norton:

“In the months since, I’ve been dealing with the consequences for our office and staff in Tashkent. We’ve been under constant attack in the media in Uzbekistan. Our office is barely able to function. Seven BBC employees, including the World Service correspondent, have had to leave the country because of threats and intimidation by the authorities. Two have been granted political refugee status by the UNHCR. Five of us have been named personally by the prosecutor general during the course of the trial. People’s lives have been completely turned upside down.”