Kyrgyz authorities should immediately restore access to the bank account and website of Radio Azattyk, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s local service, and cease all attempts to obstruct the outlet’s work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement.
On Monday, October 31, staff at the local offices of DemirBank informed Azattyk that they had frozen the outlet’s account under orders of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security (SCNS).
On November 3, DemirBank stated that the account has been suspended under Article 14 of Kyrgyzstan’s law on countering the financing of terrorist activities and the legalization (laundering) of criminal proceeds, which allows the suspension of accounts deemed to be involved in money laundering.
The move comes after Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Culture ordered Azattyk’s website blocked for two months under false information legislation.
«After blocking Azattyk’s website, freezing the outlet’s bank account is another outrageous and apparently unlawful step taken by Kyrgyz authorities to pressure one of the country’s most important news sources. These and all other efforts to obstruct the work of Radio Azattyk must end immediately,» said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. «Kyrgyz authorities must stop treating the independent press like an enemy and allow Azattyk and other independent outlets to work without harassment and impediment.»
