New York, September 26, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kyrgyz authorities to drop the prosecution against 11 current and former staff of anti-corruption investigative outlet Temirov Live and release those in detention, after prosecutors on Thursday requested 6-year prison sentences for the journalists on charges of calling for mass unrest.
“The conviction of even a single one of the 11 Temirov Live investigative journalists on such clearly contrived and retaliatory charges would deal a further severe blow to Kyrgyzstan’s international reputation,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Kyrgyz prosecutors should drop charges against 11 current and former members of Temirov Live, release those remaining in detention, and lift the travel bans against others. The government must stop its relentless campaign against the outlet and its founder, Bolot Temirov.”
Kyrgyz police arrested the current and former Temirov Live staff during raids on the journalists’ homes and the outlet’s office on January 16. Four of the 11 journalists — Makhabat Tajibek kyzy, Aktilek Kaparov, Aike Beishekeyeva, and Azamat Ishenbekov — remain in detention. Jumabek Turdaliev has been released on a travel ban, while the other six — Sapar Akunbekov, Akyl Orozbekov, Tynystan Asypbekov, Saipidin Sultanaliev, Joodar Buzumov, and Maksat Tajibek uulu — were released under house arrest pending trial.
A verdict in the case is expected October 3. Case materials reviewed by CPJ allege that videos by Temirov Live, a partner of global investigative network Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), and sister outlet Ait Ait Dese “discredit” the government and contain “indirect” and “subtextual” calls for mass unrest. Akmat Alagushev, lawyer for two of the journalists, told CPJ that the charges are “absurd,” saying that prosecutors’ resorting to the term “indirect calls,” which lacks basis in Kyrgyz legislation, shows that investigators were unable to find any actual calls for mass unrest in the outlets’ publications.
Authorities deported Temirov in November 2022 and banned him from entering the country for five years in connection with his reporting.
Since 2022, Kyrgyz authorities have launched an unprecedented crackdown on independent reporting in a country previously seen as a regional haven for the free press. A Russian-style “foreign agents” law approved in April could be used to target media outlets and press freedom groups.