Kyrgyz authorities should withdraw their application to shutter Kloop Media, a non-profit foundation that runs the independent news and anti-corruption investigative website Kloop. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement.
On August 22, the city prosecutor in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, applied to the court to liquidate Kloop Media because the foundation’s charter allegedly did not list media activity among its statutory activities. Kyrgyzstan’s civil law code allows for the liquidation of legal entities by a court decision if they «systematically» conduct activities inconsistent with the purposes set out in their charters.
The application also alleged that Kloop’s publications included «sharp criticism» of the authorities, demoralized the public, and aimed to incite a revolution.
Kloop received notice of the application on Monday, August 28. The outlet’s lawyer, Fatima Yakupbayeva, told CPJ that the outlet can only file a complaint against the application if the court declines to take the matter to trial. Yakupbayeva added that Kloop’s reporting was represented in the foundation’s charter under activities such as the «analysis of current affairs» and the provision of an «information platform» for the free expression of opinions on socio-political and economic developments.
«Kyrgyz authorities’ application to shutter Kloop is an outrageous and deeply cynical attempt to stifle some of Kyrgyzstan’s most probing investigative journalism, including investigations of alleged corruption involving leading state officials,» said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, in New York.
Authorities should immediately withdraw this application and stop their campaign of pressure against the independent press.
Carlos Martínez de la Serna
Bektour Iskender, co-founder of Kloop, told CPJ by phone he believed the shuttering application could be related to an August 22 investigation by Kloop alleging that relatives of both the Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and the head of the country’s State Committee for National Security were involved in the construction of a soccer academy in Kyrgyzstan connected to the Spanish soccer club Barcelona.
On August 26, Japarov sharply criticized the article, saying that outlets like Kloop «bring only harm and no benefit to the Kyrgyz.»
It was reported on August 28 that Bishkek prosecutor Emilbek Abdymanapov filed a lawsuit in court to liquidate Kloop.Media public foundation.
The lawsuit, in particular, states that «most of the publications are of a negative nature, aimed at discrediting representatives of state and municipal bodies», «Kloop.Media publications contain hidden manipulations of the opinion of the society, which are imposed negative processes that do not correspond to reality, and create opposition to any undertakings of the current government».
The prosecutor cites several headlines and materials from Kloop.kg, which, according to the oversight body, are sharply critical of the government.
The prosecutor’s office also accuses the public foundation of concealing a large amount of funds.
