Azattyk journalists repeatedly summoned for interrogation to SCNS

09:42, 04 июня 2020, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Ruslan KHARIZOV

Journalists of Azattyk Ali (Mukhammedali) Toktakunov and Ydyrys Isakov were summoned for questioning to the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan. The state committee reported.

The State Committee for National Security sent an official letter to the President of the Media Corporation Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Jamie Fly, on assisting in ensuring the appearance of journalists for interrogation within the criminal case on murder of Aierken Saimaiti.

«The investigation is not for the first time trying to interrogate Azattyk journalists and gain access to the materials they have, including those obtained from Aierken Saimaiti. However, journalists have not yet appeared for interrogation. The investigators have not been yet provided with the promised materials of the journalistic investigation in full,» the state committee said.

The State Committee for National Security guarantees complete safety for Azattyk journalists to confirm the materials they provided within the legal framework and is ready to take measures to check the facts of threats against the latter.

Recall, Azattyk journalists have been already summoned for interrogation in December 2019. At that time, Azattyk said that they were ready to cooperate with law enforcement agencies, and their journalists were ready to answer all questions via a video call, since they were abroad.

Aierken Saimaiti was killed in Istanbul on November 10, 2019. He was shot dead in a cafe in Fatih area. After a photograph of Saimaiti with some Kyrgyz politicians was published, the Parliament decided to investigate his murder.

A journalistic investigation into smuggling and corruption at the Customs caused widespread public outcry. The publication stated that unknown entrepreneurs repeatedly threatened to kill the Chinese businessman Aierken Saimaiti in Kyrgyzstan, so he fled to Turkey.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Kyrgyzstan opened a criminal case and entrusted an interdepartmental investigation group with the investigation.