(RSF/IFEX) – A Bishkek court has ordered the seizure of the opposition daily “Moya Stolitsa”‘s property and the freezing of its bank accounts, because of the prospect of libel damages against the paper of up to 300,000 euros (approx. US$323,000). “Moya Stolitsa” has regularly denounced corruption by the country’s politicians. “The enormous amount [of damages] […]
(RSF/IFEX) – A Bishkek court has ordered the seizure of the opposition daily “Moya Stolitsa”‘s property and the freezing of its bank accounts, because of the prospect of libel damages against the paper of up to 300,000 euros (approx. US$323,000). “Moya Stolitsa” has regularly denounced corruption by the country’s politicians.
“The enormous amount [of damages] being claimed threatens the paper’s very survival,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in a letter to Bishkek Appeals Court Presiding Judge Rahimberdy Saliev. “We ask you to put an end to this financial pressure, whose sole aim is to censor all independent news in the country,” Ménard added.
The Lenin Court in Bishkek acted on 20 January 2003, after several libel suits were filed against “Moya Stolitsa” by several of President Askar Akayev’s associates, including Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev.
“Moya Stolitsa” has been under constant pressure from the authorities for several years. In 2002, the state monopoly printing firm Uchkun used numerous false pretexts to prevent the printing of issues of the paper that included references to high-level corruption.
On 17 January, Alexandra Chernykh, a “Moya Stolitsa” journalist, was physically attacked by two thugs (see IFEX alerts of 29 and 24 January 2003). Her mother, Rina Prizhivoit, who is the paper’s political editor, is well-known for her investigations into corruption, including cases involving President Akayev’s family.
