Parliament may abolish criminal libel, decision to free journalist reversed
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 13 April 2001 CPJ press release: New York, April 13, 2001 — The Kyrgyz Parliament is currently considering the repeal of the republic’s notorious criminal libel statutes. A parliamentary committee recently circulated draft legislation to exclude articles 127 and 128 (for libel and insult respectively) from the Criminal Code. […]
CPJ disturbed by recent crackdown on independent and opposition media
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 20 March 2001 letter to President Askar Akayev, CPJ said it was deeply disturbed by the government’s recent crackdown on independent and opposition media in Kyrgyzstan, exemplified by the recent closure of the opposition twice-weekly newspaper “Asaba” and the suspension of the independent weekly “Res Publica”. CPJ believes the Kyrgyz government, […]
Opposition newspaper closed
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to President Askar Akayev, RSF expressed its outrage over the closure of the opposition weekly “Asaba” on 6 March 2001. “This brutal decision highlights the permanent attacks on press freedom in Kyrgyzstan. Financial pressure is asphyxiating all independent information,” stated Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. The organisation asked that authorisation […]
CPJ protests inhuman interrogation of journalists
**Updates IFEX alerts of 18 August 2000** (CPJ/IFEX) – In a 23 August 2000 letter to President Askar Akayev, CPJ expressed concern over the harsh treatment to which three journalists from the Bishkek independent weekly “Delo N” were recently subjected by agents of the Ministry of National Security. After a long and brutal interrogation on […]
Private weekly harassed by the authorities
**Updates previous IFEX alert of 18 August 2000** (RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the president of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Askar Atrayevich Akayev, RSF protested the harassment of the private weekly “Delo No” and members of its editorial staff. “This is a new act of pressure aiming to silence the non-governmental press,” stated Robert […]
Independent journalist hospitalised after eight-hour interrogation
(GDF/IFEX) – On 17 August 2000, Svetlana Krasilnikova, assistant editor of the independent newspaper “Delo N”, was hospitalised after an eight-hour interrogation at the Kyrgyz Ministry of National Security (MNS). Krasilnikova, together with “Delo N” editor-in-chief Viktor Zapolskij and journalist Vadim Notchevkin, was summoned to the ministry. Not long ago, the MNS instituted proceedings against […]
Journalist released after successful appeal
(JuHI/IFEX) – The Osh Media Resource Center and Internews-Kyrgyzstan have confirmed the release of Moldosaly Ibrahimov, a journalist from the region of Jalal-Abad, who spent the last five weeks in jail. Ibrahimov was represented by Internews lawyer Shamaral Maychiyev during his appeals hearing in the Oblast Court of Jalal-Abad, on 20 July 2000. He was […]
Television station threatened with closure
(JuHI/IFEX) – According to a 29 June 2000 statement by the Osh Media Resource Center, the Kyrgyz Republic’s State Commission on Radio Frequencies issued a decree that obliges Osh TV to cease broadcasting on the fifth VHF channel (a very high frequency), and to switch to the twenty-third channel on UHF (an ultra high frequency). […]
RSF protests imprisonment of two journalists
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Justice Minister Nelly Beshenalieva, RSF protested the sentencing of Moldosaly Ibraimov, a journalist with the weekly “Akyikat”, to two years in prison for “libel”, and the imprisonment of a second journalist. Without wishing to comment on the facts of these cases, RSF called on the authorities to immediately release […]
JuHI protests journalist’s imprisonment for libel
(JuHI/IFEX) – As explained by the Osh Media Resource Center on 19 June 2000, the Jalalabad city court, headed by Judge Jusup Suleimanov, sentenced independent journalist Moldosali Ibrahimov, from the village of Suzak, in Jalalabad province, to two years’ imprisonment for “libel”, based on Article 127 (parts 2 and 3) of the Kyrgyz Republic’s Criminal […]
CPJ protests imprisonment of Kyrgyz journalist
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 22 June 2000 letter to President Askar Akayev, CPJ expressed its concern that an independent journalist in his country has been jailed for insulting a judge. On 19 June, a Jalal-Abad city court sentenced Moldosali Ibraimov, a reporter with the independent regional weekly “Akyikat”, to two years imprisonment for criminal defamation. […]
Another blow for banned newspaper
**Updates IFEX alert of 24 March 2000** (CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 4 April 2000 CPJ press release: KYRGYZSTAN: ANOTHER BLOW FOR BANNED NEWSPAPER New York, April 4, 2000 — A Bishkek city court recently found the local independent weekly Res Publika liable in yet another defamation suit. The paper is currently banned from […]
Journalist arrested, newspaper subject to legal harassment
In a 23 March 2000 letter to President Askar Akayev, CPJ expressed its deep concern over the recent arrest of veteran journalist Aziza Abdrasulova and the continued legal harassment of her newspaper, the Bishkek daily “Res Publika”. CPJ believes that the arrest is part of an intimidation campaign being mounted by the Kyrgyz government against […]
Attempted arrest of journalist
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ has expressed great concern about the recent harassment of Alexander Kim, chief editor of the independent daily “Vecherny Bishkek”. On 24 August 1999, representatives from the Kyrgyz State Tax Police attempted to arrest Kim on charges of tax evasion and ordered him to provide a number of the newspaper’s financial documents. Kim […]
Journalist Rysbek Omurzakov sentenced to three years in prison
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 29 September 1997, a district court in Bishkek sentenced Rysbek Omurzakov, a reporter for the opposition weekly “Res Publika”, to three years in prison for libelling the manager of a state-owned factory. The ruling makes Kyrgyzstan the only country in Europe and the former Soviet Union to have sent a journalist to […]
Trial of journalist Yryspek Omurzakov resumes
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 18 September 1997, the trial of Yryspek Omurzakov, a journalist with the opposition weekly “Res Publika”, resumed in the Lenin District Court of Bishkek. Omurzakov was arrested in March 1997 on criminal charges for allegedly libelling a factory director, an accusation characterized by his lawyers as politically motivated. **Updates IFEX alerts dated […]