Kyrgyzstan: Drop Charges Against 11 Journalists And Human Rights Defenders – OpEd

As proceedings against 11 independent journalists and human rights defenders (HRDs) in Kyrgyzstan near conclusion, Amnesty International, Araminta, ARTICLE 19, Association for Human Rights in Central Asia, Civil Rights Defenders, Freedom for Eurasia, Freedom Now, Front Line Defenders, International Partnership for Human Rights, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, and People in Need call on the authorities to drop the charges and end the ongoing crackdown on free speech. The criminal charges against the journalists and HRDs are a textbook example of retaliation against investigative journalism and reporting on high-level corruption, the human rights groups said.

In mid-January 2024, law enforcement in Kyrgyzstandetainedthe 11 journalists and HRDs during a series of late-night raids, alleging that their critical reporting incited civil disobedience and mass unrest. The targeted individuals are Sapar Akunbekov, Tynystan Asypbekov, Aike Beishekeyeva, Joodar Buzumov, Azamat Ishenbekov, Aktilek Kaparov, Akyl Orozbekov, Saypidin Sultanaliev, Makhabat Tazhikbek Kyzy, Maksat Tazhibek Uulu and Jumabek Turdaliev. They have all been charged under Article 278.3 of the Criminal Code, which penalises “calls for active disobedience to the legal demands of government officials, incitement to mass riots, and violence against citizens” with up to eight years imprisonment. This broadly worded provision has been increasingly misused totargetgovernment critics. Since their arrest in January 2024, six of the journalists and HRDs have been released into house arrest and one under a travel ban, while four – Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy, Aktilek Kaparov, Aike Beishekeyeva and Azamat Ishenbekov – remain in pretrial detention.

All of the 11 journalists and HRDs are current or former employees of the investigative YouTube ChannelTemirov Live. They were prosecuted in relation to video reports published by Temirov Live and its affiliated channel “Ait Ait Dese,” which implicated high-level government officials in large-scale corruption. Journalist and HRDBolot Temirov, founder of both media outlets, has lived in exile since November 2022, when authorities de-facto stripped him of his Kyrgyzstani citizenship on trumped-up charges and expelled him from the country.

On 26 September 2024 state prosecutors requested a six-year’ prison sentence for all the defendants. After a delay in proceedings, a verdict is expected to be pronounced in the Leninsky District Court in Bishkek on 10 October 2024. Throughout the trial, the state investigators and the prosecution have not presented any credible evidence of calls for mass unrest, riots, violence, or “disobedience.” Instead, the prosecution has argued that the journalists’ and HRDs’ reporting on corruption discredited the authorities, which could potentially lead to riots and civil unrest.

In April 2024, one of the defendants,Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzywas physically assaulted in Pre-Trial Detention Center #1 in Bishkek, suffering bruises on her arms, face, and the left side of her jaw. However, in June 2024 prosecutorsrefusedto open a criminal case into the alleged ill-treatment, claiming she had fabricated her injuries.

In July 2024, Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy, Azamat Ishembekov, Aktylek Kaparov, and Ayke Beyshekeeva attended the court hearing wearing t-shirts that read “Ak iilet, birok synbait,” which translates from Kyrgyz as “the truth bends, but does not break.” The following day prison authorities raided the journalists’ cells and confiscated these t-shirts in yet another act of silencing.

By targeting the 11 journalists and HRDs for publishing their independent investigative work, the authorities have already undermined free speech and media freedoms in Kyrgyzstan. Their conviction and imprisonment would deal a new, severe blow to these fundamental freedoms. This move will further entrench self-censorship and heighten fears of prosecution among journalists, HRDs and civil society. Kyrgyzstan is wrongfully prosecuting some of the country’s most respected journalists and HRDs, whose only ‘crime’ is their persistent independent investigations into high-level corruption. The undersigned human rights organisations urge the authorities to drop the bogus charges against all the defendants in the case, release them, and ensure that all journalists and HRDs in Kyrgyzstan can carry out their activities without fear of reprisals, in line with Kyrgyzstan’s constitution and its international human rights obligations.