Head of the Bishkek office of the Kyrgyz service of Radio Azattyk has been replaced. The media outlet reports.
Bakyt Asanov reportedly became an Acting Director instead of Aizada Kasmalieva.
«Aizada Kasmalieva has headed Azattyk since May 1, 2017. She was trained at the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty office in Prague. Bakyt Asanov has worked as a correspondent for Azattyk since October 2011. He also took advanced training courses in Prague. Since 2017, he has been the host of an analytical program,» the media outlet reports.
It should be noted that Bakyt Asanov was the spokesman for the Prime Minister Temir Sariev in 2016.
The Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy of Kyrgyzstan suspended the work of Azattyk Media website for two months on October 26, referring to the law of the ex-deputy Gulshat Asylbayeva on protection from inaccurate (false) information. The reason was a video from Current Time (a TV channel created by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) titled «Heavy fighting on the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.»
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.»
