The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomed former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev’s decision to drop defamation charges he pressed last year against independent news website Zanoza and its journalists Naryn Idinov and Dina Maslova, and urged the country’s new administration to release Azimzhan Askarov, a Kyrgyz journalist jailed since 2010. Website of the organization says.
«Former President Almazbek Atambayev was right to drop defamation charges against Zanoza and its journalists Dina Maslova and Naryn Idinov, who should not have been prosecuted in the first place,» CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. «We call on the new Kyrgyz leadership to build on this progress for press freedom in the country by finally righting the grave injustice of Azimjon Askarov’s continued imprisonment.»
As press service of SDPK previously reported, Almazbek Atambayev was ready to withdraw claims of the Prosecutor General’s Office on protection of his honor and dignity to the founders of Zanoza.kg — Naryn Aiyp, Dina Maslova and to the head of Adilet Legal Clinic Cholpon Dzhakupova.
