The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the decision by President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov to withdraw from parliament a draft law that could have been weaponized against the independent press.
«Alongside Kyrgyzstan’s ongoing media crackdown, jailing of journalists, and Russian-inspired ‘foreign agents’ bill, the vague and repressive mass media bill could have been the nail in the coffin for Kyrgyzstan as a regional beacon for the free press. It is only right that it be retracted,» Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, said. «Kyrgyz authorities must now engage in meaningful consultation with the media and press freedom advocates to ensure that any new version of the bill allays journalists’ fears that it would be used to silence critical voices.»
The spokesman for the head of state, Askat Alagozov, announced that the bill on mass media was withdrawn on behalf of the President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov.
He recalled that earlier the president met with the heads of the country’s media. During the conversation, one of the issues discussed was the draft law «On the Mass Media», which is being considered by the Parliament.
«Following the meeting, having heard information from media representatives and taking into account the proposals received from them regarding this bill, President Sadyr Japarov instructed to finalize the said draft law,» Askat Alagozov wrote.
It should be noted that the bill developed by the presidential administration was submitted to the Parliament in early January. This is the fifth version of the document; it was finalized by members of the working group formed by order of the head of state Sadyr Japarov in December 2022. However, the draft law was not finalized, agreed upon or approved by all members of the working group. There was no clause-by-clause discussion.
