11:15, 11 марта 2026, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Darya NESTEROVA
Journalist and head of Temirov LIVE project Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy will be transferred to a pretrial detention facility. Her lawyer, Asel Argymbaeva, told 24.kg news agency. According to her, the defense’s primary action is to demand that the state comply with the decisions of international bodies and human rights organizations.
Asel Argymbaeva noted that the defense intends to seek compliance with the recommendations of international bodies, including the decision of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which previously found the journalist’s detention unlawful and called for her immediate release.
On March 10, the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan sent Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy’s case back to the district court for retrial.
The panel of judges overturned the decisions of the previous courts. It is noted that a new panel of judges will hear the case.
Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy is the head of the media projects Temirov LIVE and Ait Ait Dese and the wife of investigative journalist Bolot Temirov. She was detained in January 2024 along with other media project employees. They were charged with inciting mass unrest.
On October 10, 2024, the Leninsky District Court of Bishkek sentenced the journalist to six years in prison. The Bishkek City Court later upheld the sentence, and in February 2025, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision.
The defense filed a motion for a review of the case based on newly discovered circumstances. As a result, the Supreme Court sent the case to the district court for a new trial.
Previously, international human rights organizations and representatives of the media community called on the Kyrgyz authorities to reconsider the journalist’s sentence. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated that her detention is unlawful and should be overturned. Amnesty International and several other organizations have called on Kyrgyzstan’s authorities to release the journalist. According to Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the country’s authorities have a choice: comply with their international human rights obligations or continue to ignore them.