KYRGYZSTAN COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM OMRC OFFICECASCFEN - The criminal attack was made on the OMRC office The criminal attack was made on the OMRC office

Fergana.org - Today, February 4, 2004, about at three o'clock two unknown men in masks committed the criminal attack on the office of the Osh Media Resource Center (OMRC), in particular on the computer room that is jointly used by the OMRC and American organization IREX.

As a result of the attack the security guard has received physical injuries. The hard disks, processors, RAMs, CD-drivers from all desktop computers, a notebook, digital camera and multimedia projector were stolen. The total sum of the stolen property in accordance with the provisional data is more than $5 thousand USD.

Almost immediately the employees of the Osh city Division of Internal Affairs, Osh Media Resource Center and IREX arrived at the scene of the crime. As the result of the investigation, more details of the incident were learned. As it was ascertained, the deliberate criminals covered the glass of the building side with adhesive tape, where the OMRC office is situated, and then broke it and easily got into the building. Security guard Hosanbai Hodjamberdievich, working this night, made an attempt to prevent it, but he was beaten unmercifully and tied with adhesive tape.

Hosanbai Hodjamberdievich reported: "About at three o'clock I have heard some noise and thought that it was somebody who remained after work and went to check it out. In the corridor I found two men in masks, who began to beat me with something hard. Then they threw me on the floor and began to threaten: "we will show them, those journalists, who write about us constantly, especially that Russian guy with a moustache, whatever his name is". They started asking me where the information about them is kept and I replied that I did not know. Then they tied me and threw on the floor, threatening that they would kill me if I began to cry."

The computer room is visited mostly by the journalists from the southern region of Kyrgyzstan, who are members of the Osh Resource Media Center, students, pupils and people who have participated in the educational programs funded by the US government. As the IT-administrator of the computer room Konstantin Trubitcin reported, the stolen hard disks did not contain any secret information. Each of them can cost 40-50 USD on the open market for second-hand computer equipment.