The Parliament of Kyrgyzstan suspended the accreditation of Azattyk Media journalists. The information was confirmed by the press service of the Parliament.
The decision was made in connection with the suspension of work of the website by order of the Ministry of Culture.
The Parliament is to consider an agreement with Uzbekistan on separate sections of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border and joint management of Kempir-Abad reservoir on Thursday. Previously, the relevant committee adopted the document in three readings at once. President Sadyr Japarov will attend the meeting.
The Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy announced that it had suspended the operation of Radio Azattyk website for two months. The ministry noted that on September 16, Current Time resource (subordinate structure of Azattyk Media) published a video «Heavy fighting on the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan», in which «elements of hate speech were used, as well as unconfirmed information about the alleged attack by the Kyrgyz side on Tajikistan, information that aggravates the situation in society and causes hatred, discrimination and division among citizens when covering events in Batken region.»
In a statement issued the same day, RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said the broadcaster had reviewed the content in question and found «no violation of standards.»
Blocking of accounts of the media outlet was announced later. Demir Bank verbally reported that the accounts were blocked, and recommended to contact the State Committee for National Security for clarification. The media outlet contacted the bank for official clarification of the situation.
