Kyrgyzstan / Europe & Central Asia

  
In several hearings between February 1 and February 6, 2024, the Bishkek City Court rejected the appeals of 11 journalists, who are current and former employees of the anti-corruption investigative outlet Temirov Live, and upheld their pretrial detention. (Screenshot: YouTube/Radio Azattyk)

CPJ calls for end to trial of 11 anti-corruption journalists in Kyrgyzstan

Stockholm, June 13, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Kyrgyz authorities to immediately drop all charges against 11 current and former Temirov Live staff, ahead of an unprecedented trial due to open on Friday, and end the harassment of the independent press. “Even as Kyrgyzstan continues its rapid descent into authoritarianism under President Sadyr Japarov,…

Read More ›

Lawyers, officials, and others attend a hearing at Bishkek City Court to consider Kloop’s appeal against liquidation on May 17.

Kyrgyzstan court rejects investigative outlet Kloop’s appeal against liquidation

Stockholm, May 20, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday called on Kyrgyzstan to allow the country’s leading investigative news site Kloop to resume work and stop using the courts to silence critical media, following the rejection by a city court of Kloop’s appeal against a liquidation order. “The court’s rejection of Kloop’s appeal against…

Read More ›

In several hearings between February 1 and February 6, 2024, the Bishkek City Court rejected the appeals of 11 journalists, who are current and former employees of the anti-corruption investigative outlet Temirov Live, and upheld their pretrial detention. (Screenshot: YouTube/Radio Azattyk)

Kyrgyzstan releases 4 Temirov Live journalists; CPJ calls for dropping of charges against all 11

Stockholm, April 9, 2024—Kyrgyzstan authorities should withdraw charges against 11 current and former staff of anti-corruption investigative outlet Temirov Live, release the four still in detention, and allow the press to work without reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. The Pervomaisky District Court in the capital, Bishkek, on Tuesday released four former Temirov…

Read More ›

Kyrgyzstan president signs Russian-style ‘foreign agents’ law

Stockholm, April 2, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists called for Kyrgyzstan to repeal a law, newly ratified on Tuesday by President Sadyr Japarov, that requires some nonprofits, including media organizations, to register as “foreign representatives.” “President Sadyr Japarov’s decision to follow Russia’s lead on ‘foreign agent’ legislation threatens to erase Kyrgyzstan’s 30-year status as a…

Read More ›

Kyrgyz and US officials

Kyrgyzstan parliament approves ‘foreign agents’ law

Stockholm, March 15, 2024—Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov should reject Russian-inspired legislation that would designate externally funded media rights groups and nonprofits that run news outlets as “foreign representatives,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Thursday, Kyrgyzstan’s parliament approved in a third and final reading, without debate, a bill requiring nonprofits that receive foreign…

Read More ›

CPJ welcomes Kyrgyzstan’s withdrawal of restrictive media bill

Stockholm, March 13, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Wednesday’s decision by Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov to withdraw from parliament a draft law that could have been weaponized against the independent press. “Alongside Kyrgyzstan’s ongoing media crackdown, jailing of journalists, and Russian-inspired ‘foreign agents’ bill, the vague and repressive mass media bill could have been…

Read More ›

In several hearings between February 1 and February 6, 2024, the Bishkek City Court rejected the appeals of 11 journalists, who are current and former employees of the anti-corruption investigative outlet Temirov Live, and upheld their pretrial detention. (Screenshot: YouTube/Radio Azattyk)

Kyrgyzstan court extends pre-trial detention of 8 anti-corruption journalists

Stockholm, March 13, 2024—Kyrgyzstan authorities should immediately drop charges against current and former Temirov Live staff, release all eight detained journalists, and reverse its crackdown on the independent press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Pervomaisky District Court in the capital, Bishkek, extended by two months the pre-trial detention of Temirov…

Read More ›

CPJ condemns Kyrgyzstan’s order to shut investigative outlet Kloop

Stockholm, February 12, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is appalled by a Kyrgyzstan court decision on Friday to shutter Kloop Media, a nonprofit that runs the country’s leading investigative news website Kloop. “After last month’s mass arrest of journalists linked to anti-corruption outlet Temirov Live, the forced closure of Kloop—one of the most respected media…

Read More ›

In several hearings between February 1 and February 6, 2024, the Bishkek City Court rejected the appeals of 11 journalists, who are current and former employees of the anti-corruption investigative outlet Temirov Live, and upheld their pretrial detention. (Screenshot: YouTube/Radio Azattyk)

Kyrgyzstan upholds detention of 11 journalists; CPJ calls for release

Stockholm, February 6, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday condemned a Kyrgyzstan court’s decision to uphold the two-month pretrial detention of 11 journalists, who are current and former employees of the anti-corruption investigative outlet Temirov Live. “By confirming the arrests of 11 journalists—an unprecedented assault on press freedom in modern Kyrgyz history—authorities in Kyrgyzstan…

Read More ›

Makhabat Tajibek kyzy and 24.kg office

Kyrgyzstan authorities raid news outlets 24.kg and Temirov Live, arrest journalists

Stockholm, January 16, 2024 — Kyrgyz authorities should drop criminal investigations into privately owned news website 24.kg and investigative outlet Temirov Live, release all detained current and former members of Temirov Live, and end their crackdown on the independent press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Monday, officers from Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for…

Read More ›