Kyrgyzstan: Wave of criminal cases against journalists

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(Bishkek) – Kyrgyz authorities have stepped up harassment of journalists and independent media with a series of criminal investigations into their work in recent months, Human Rights Watch said today.

On March 29, 2022, following a motion by the Attorney General’s Office, a Bishkek District Court found that a private media outlet, Next TV, was “extremist” for reposting a comment from a Ukrainian media outlet, Ukraine Now. The message implied that Kyrgyzstan would provide military support to Russian forces in Ukraine. The court sent Next TV director Taalaibek Duishenbiev to remand on charges of inciting inter-ethnic hatred for reposting the comment.

“Kyrgyz authorities say they are protecting freedom of expression, but are trying to silence critical voices and suppress independent media through criminal investigations and false accusations,” said Syinat Sultanalieva, researcher on the Central Asia at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should release Taalaibek Duishenbiev and drop all unfounded charges against him and other media targets that violate the right to freedom of expression.

On March 3, the State Committee on National Security (SCNS) opened a criminal investigation into Next TV for reposting the article, and police raided the office, arresting Duishenbiev, confiscating equipment and eventually closing the office. The prosecutor and the security agency can lay charges, but the security agency lays charges regarding threats to national security.

On March 5, a district court in Pervomaiskiy ordered two months in pretrial detention for Duishenbiev and said he would be charged with incitement to inter-ethnic hatred, under Article 330 of the Criminal Code, for reposting the comment on the channel’s social media accounts. If convicted, Duishenbiev faces up to seven years in prison. On March 24, the Bishkek City Court upheld the district court’s remand order. This decision can no longer be appealed.

Lawyers for Next TV have appealed the decision to close the outlet’s office. But on March 22, the district court dismissed the appeal, leaving outlet staff without access to the equipment and materials they use for their jobs.

Also on March 22, the Attorney General’s Office submitted its petition to the same Pervomaiskiy District Court asking for a declaration that the replay of the comment was “extremist.” It also sought an order to prevent Next TV from exploiting or distributing its media products on other online and offline news platforms.

On March 29, the district court ruled that the rerun was “extremist,” but denied the motion to ban the outlet’s work. The station’s lawyers are appealing the “extremist” decision to the Bishkek city court.

On March 5, the Kyrgyz ombudsman, Atyr Abdrakhmatova, asked the court to examine the legality of the security services’ closure of the offices of Next TV.

Next TV is the third medium targeted by the Kyrgyz authorities in recent months. On February 1, the Pervomaiskiy district prosecutor’s office opened a criminal investigation into Kaktus.Media’s republishing of an article by a Tajik media outlet, Asia Plus, about a skirmish between Kyrgyzstan and Tajik on January 27. The Tajik article erroneously alleged that Kyrgyzstan soldiers fired the first shots, prompting the Tajik military to fire back.

The prosecutor’s office said the allegations constituted a criminal offense under article 407 of the criminal code, “propaganda of war” and the dissemination of information aimed at “provoking aggression by one country against another or initiating a military conflict”. The investigation is ongoing. The penalty if convicted is a fine of up to 100,000 Kyrgyz soms (US$1,180) or up to five years in prison.

On January 22, Bishkek city police arrested an investigative journalist, Bolot Temirov, director of Temirov Live, an independent online media outlet, and former co-host of Factcheck.KG, a project that works to refute false allegations and propaganda, on the charge of illegal offenses. manufacture of drugs. The police also searched his office and confiscated computer processors, hard drives and documents. Temirov was released the same day with instructions not to leave the country. Temirov maintains that the drugs allegedly found during the search were planted.

Many Kyrgyz media see the case as retaliation for his team’s investigation into questionable fuel export projects linked to the leadership of the State Committee for National Security. The report of that investigation had been posted on the outlet’s YouTube channel just two days before authorities raided his office and arrested him.

On January 31, Kyrgyzstan’s Media Policy Institute called drug-making charges against Temirov Live and called for an investigation into Kaktus Media’s repost of a “massive attack” on free speech. . On February 15, dozens of journalists, media outlets and expert organizations signed an open letter on the issue.

This harassment of investigative journalists and independent media is taking place in the context of other efforts to censor freedom of expression. On February 21, the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy submitted for public review a draft decree for the application of the law on protection against false information, signed by President Sadyr Japarov on August 23, 2021. Human Rights Watch previously reported that the law paves the way for state-run censorship and violates Kyrgyzstan’s domestic and international human rights obligations .

The proposed executive order would allow someone who alleges an outlet posted false information to ask the owners of the website or social media page to remove the information. In case of refusal, the person could ask a service of regulation and monitoring of communications, which will be created under the aegis of the Ministry of Digital Development, to suspend the website or page for a period of up to two month.

The Kyrgyz Association of Telecommunications Operators said the decree would be impossible to enforce and would undermine the Law on Electric and Postal Communications, which states that only a court can order restrictions on access to information if he judges that the information violates the honor and dignity of a person.

“Investigative journalism is an important cornerstone of a free and democratic society, and the Kyrgyz authorities should immediately stop trying to stifle it, whether through bogus criminal investigations or oppressive laws,” said Sultanalieva. “They can’t just pay lip service to the importance of freedom of expression, but must demonstrate that they are upholding their international human rights obligations. »

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