International organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the repeal of a draconian «foreign agents» law based on Russian legislation that has just been signed by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.
It will allow the authorities to suspend NGOs and independent media without reference to a court, says RSF, warning of a dangerous radicalization liable to throttle Kyrgyzstan’s free press.
«After arrests of journalists and censorship attempts, the law vilifying supposed ‘foreign agents’ marks a new stage in President Japarov’s growing authoritarianism in Kyrgyzstan. The envisioned draconian measures are liable to throttle independent media that are already under intense police pressure. This law is just a pretext for clamping down even more on Kyrgyz civil society and crushing all media pluralism. We call for its immediate repeal,» Jeanne Cavelier, head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said.
The Parliament of Kyrgyzstan adopted in the third reading the bill on «foreign representatives» (analogous to foreign agent law in Russian legislation), officially known as the draft law «On Amendments to the Law «On Non-Profit Organizations».
The President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov signed the law on April 2. In his statement posted on Facebook on April 2, the president promised no persecution of NGOs and their representatives after the law was signed.
