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Human rights activists to hold solidarity meeting with Temirov Live journalists

The international human rights organization Amnesty International and the Last Word project will hold a meeting of solidarity with Temirov Live journalists in Riga. The organization’s website says.

The meeting will take place on January 16 at 7 p.m. at the address: Power-Up Space, Latvia, Riga, 21, Merkela Street.

As noted, at the meeting, participants will:

  • Discuss the human rights situation in Kyrgyzstan and challenges for independent journalism in the country;
  • Hear the last words of Temirov Live journalists and its sister project Ait Ait Dese in court;
  • Listen to Bolot Temirov, an investigative journalist from Kyrgyzstan and the founder of the project, who will tell about the situation with his colleagues;
  • Sign cards of solidarity with the imprisoned journalists.

In mid-January, 11 journalists from the team of investigating journalist Bolot Temirov were arrested and charged under Article 278 «Calls for mass riots» of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic. Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy, Sapar Akunbekov, Azamat Ishenbekov, Saypidin Sultanaliev, Aktilek Kaparov, Tynystan Asypbekov, Maksat Tazhibek uulu, Zhoodar Buzumov, Zhumabek Turdaliev, Aike Beishekeeva and Akyl Orozbekov were placed in the pretrial detention center. All of them are former or current employees of Temirov Live. The court’s chosen preventive measure was detention. Later, most of the defendants were placed under house arrest and released on a written undertaking not to leave the city.

In October, the Leninsky District Court of Bishkek announced the verdict. Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy, the wife of Bolot Temirov, and Azamat Ishenbekov were sentenced to six and five years in prison. Aktilek Kaparov and Aike Beishekeeva were sentenced to three years of probation. The rest were acquitted.

On December 18, the Bishkek City Court upheld the guilty verdict against four journalists.

«These arrests have become a vivid example of politically motivated persecution, which is gaining momentum in Kyrgyzstan. In a country that was recently considered a benchmark for human rights in the entire Central Asian region, human rights are now being suppressed, and civil society is being targeted,» Amnesty International said in the statement.

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