Representatives of mass media and media organizations issued an appeal in connection with the search in the office of 24.kg news agency and interrogation of its employees on January 15.
It is noted that Kyrgyzstan has been a full member of the UN for 30 years and is committed to strengthening human rights. According to international standards, in order for searches and seizure of documents to be recognized as lawful, investigating authorities must present strong and convincing reasons for conducting them, as well as adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse. In the absence of such safeguards and reasons, a search may be found disproportionate to the legitimate aims pursued.
«Given that searches of media premises may be aimed at obtaining information about journalists’ sources of information, the legality and proportionality of this interference measure may raise questions not only under Article 29 of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, but also under Article 32. This is due to the fact that the protection of sources is one of the main functions of a journalist, as it is the basis of trusting relations existing between the journalist and his source,» the appeal reads.
Media emphasize that the role of the media in the protection of human rights is the main reason why searches in the media’s premises should be accompanied by strict procedural guarantees, where media lawyers should have the possibility of effective control to appeal against these interventions.
The fact that the search in the office of 24.kg news agency was conducted for more than 1.5 hours without the presence of a media lawyer raises questions about the likelihood of abuse of power on the part of the investigating authorities.
From the appeal of the media community of Kyrgyzstan
As for Article 407 «Propaganda of War» of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic, under which the case was initiated, where 24.kg employees are witnesses, it implies committing actions with direct intent, i.e. a person realizes and desires the onset of aggression or unleashing war against another country. Analysis of Article 407 of the Criminal Code shows that the action must have a systematic, permanent character of spreading «views, ideas or appeals with the aim of causing aggression of one state against another or unleashing a military conflict».
«24.kg news agency is a reputable Kyrgyzstan’s media outlet that has been publishing daily news about events in the republic since 2006. As a recent media monitoring showed, 70 percent of the news published by journalists in Kyrgyzstan is information received from government agencies. 24.kg news agency, as a reputable local media outlet, follows its editorial policy, according to which news is covered neutrally and from different perspectives. The journalists of the media outlet deliver to their audience a complete picture of socially significant events. Over the years, the editorial staff of 24.kg news agency has not been seen calling for aggression or military action. In their publications, the editorial staff systematically and consistently applies the principles of objectivity and balance inherent in the professional activities of journalists.
Accordingly, the publications of the media outlet could not contain any signs justifying aggression and military action,» the authors say.
The absence of violations of Kyrgyz law is also evidenced by the fact that the news agency’s team has not received any demands from authorized bodies or warnings from law enforcement agencies in connection with the publication of any illegal materials.
From the media appeal
The text also draws attention to the fact that the media outlet’s website is publicly accessible, and that only summoning witnesses for questioning, but in no way conducting a search, seizure, sealing of the editorial office premises and seizure of office equipment, could be recognized as a proportionate measure of interference within the framework of investigative measures. In addition to their disproportionality, these actions of the investigative bodies, in fact, maximally hinder the work of the news agency.
«In connection with the above, based on the currently available information, we consider the search in the office of 24.kg news agency as a manifestation of disproportionate interference in the rights not only of media employees, but also in general the right of citizens to freedom of speech and access to information,» the authors of the appeal concluded.
Employees of the State Committee for National Security came to the office of 24.kg news agency on January 16 at about 11 a.m. General Director Asel Otorbaeva, Editors-in-Chief Anton Lymar and Makhinur Niyazova were taken for interrogation.
Equipment and personal mobile phones of employees were confiscated.
The SCNS said that the search at 24.kg news agency was conducted as part of a criminal case under the article «Propaganda of War» of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic.
