Lukpan Akhmedyarov

An investigative journalist based in the northwestern city of Uralsk, Lukpan Akhmedyarov, 38, is well known for covering corruption and human rights abuses by President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s autocratic regime for the regional weekly Uralskaya Nedelia. He narrowly survived an apparent murder attempt outside his apartment on the night of 19 April 2012, when he was beaten, repeatedly stabbed and shot with an air-pistol. This attack had been preceded by many intimidation attempts, including a series of lawsuits with demands for astronomic damages. Winner of the Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism in October 2012, he is now Uralskaya Nedelia’s editor.