Members of Civic Solidarity international platform condemned the situation with Radio Azattyk and called on the authorities of Kyrgyzstan to protect freedom of speech. The appeal was published on the website of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.
The platform includes about 30 organizations from around the world. They call on the authorities of the Kyrgyz Republic to unblock Azattyk’s websites, to reinstate transmission of its radio shows and to unfreeze Azattyk’s bank accounts in the country. In their opinion, Azattyk is an organization that disseminates objective information, but it has been repeatedly subjected to pressure.
«This time, problems began in earnest on October 2022, when a group of people protested outside Azattyk’s offices in Bishkek, demanding the closure of independent media channels, including Azattyk, Kaktus Media and the popular, well-respected Kyrgyz news outlet Kloop. Ten days later, Kyrgyzstan’s National Television/Radio Broadcasting Corporation stopped transmitting Azattyk radio shows, followed by a decision by the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy to block the Azattyk website under a controversial and widely criticized law on the protection against ‘’false’’ information, adopted in summer 2021,» the appeal says.
Civic Solidarity reminds that over 100 Kyrgyz artists and cultural figures, scientists, activists and journalists appealed to President Sadyr Japarov to end the repression and calls on Kyrgyzstan’s authorities to order the removal of all restrictions on Azattyk’s important journalistic activities in the country.
«Kyrgyz authorities should treat the country’s media with pride and as a strength, and not seek to reverse democratic developments that have been taking place for decades, and for which ordinary Kyrgyz have often paid a high price,» the statement says.
On October 27, the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy of Kyrgyzstan announced that it had suspended the operation of Radio Azattyk website for two months. The ministry noted that on September 16, the Current Time resource (subordinate structure of Azattyk Media) published a video entitled «Heavy fighting on the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan», in which «elements of hate speech, unconfirmed information about the alleged attack by the Kyrgyz side on Tajikistan were used, as well as 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.»
