The Uzbek Foreign Ministry has commented on the incident with the Polish journalist Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska, who reported of her being rejected journalistic accreditation, sexual harassment and pressure by an Uzbek Foreign Ministry official.
On February 2, the spokesman to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Avazbek Khodjimetov met with Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska, previously accredited at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a correspondent for the Al Jazeera TV channel.
“During the meeting, additional circumstances were clarified related to her accreditation and the incident. She was offered apologies for what happened,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The official of the ministry mentioned by Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska was reportedly fired from the system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The process of obtaining journalistic accreditation by Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska will end on February 3, 2021, the ministry said.
Earlier on Tuesday, she said that she was invited to a meeting at the Foreign Ministry. According to her, the ministry said they did not know who Rustam was.
