The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, welcomed the dropping of defamation claims against the now-defunct Kyrgyz media outlet Zanoza.kg, and its journalists Dina Maslova and Naryn Aiyp, by the former president Almazbek Atambayev.
«I am pleased that this positive move may herald a new, constructive relationship between the media and authorities in Kyrgyzstan. Disproportionate fees in civil defamation cases have a chilling effect on media freedom and may bring about the closure of outlets and thus, endanger media pluralism,» Harlem Desir said.
I appreciate the role civil society played in settling the dispute, in particular, those of the legal clinic, Adilet, the Media Policy Institute and Internews Kyrgyzstan
Harlem Désir
