The new, revised law “On the media” made it clear that the fight for freedom of speech is just about to begin in the country.
On January 31, international media and human rights organisations addressed the president of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov and asked him to meet with them to discuss pressure against free media. The reason was a series of constraints upon and persecutions of journalists, media outlets and bloggers.
“Since becoming president, you have reiterated your belief that Kyrgyzstan is a country where freedom of the press prevails. As a self-described former political prisoner, you have also said that you are acutely aware of the harm that the persecution of free speech does to society,” the message said.
However, the wave of criminal cases opened against journalists and bloggers, attempts to block and close media outlets, as well as the new draft law “On the media”, suggest otherwise.
One day after the message was received, the editorial office of Kloop.kg received the request from the ministry of culture to remove material, which, according to them, contained “unreliable (false) information.” Otherwise, they threatened the editorial office to block the website for two months.
In 2022, the authorities blocked websites of Azattyk Media (RFE/RL) and ResPublica and suspended broadcasting of Next TV channel on a charge of inciting interethnic hatred. A criminal case was opened against Taalaibek Duishenbiev, director of the TV channel, and he was sentenced to 5 years of probation. In mid-December 2022, the authorities deported investigative journalist Bolot Temirov from Kyrgyzstan on the grounds of “illegal receipt of the passport of the citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic.”
On January 12, 2023, blogger Adilet Ali Myktybek, known as Adilet Baltabai, was sent to 5 years in penal colony right from the court. He was an active opponent of some decisions of the authorities in power.
On January 23, it became known that the ministry of culture, information, sport and youth policy filed a lawsuit with the court on full termination of activities of Azattyk Media in Kyrgyzstan. According to the agency, the media resource violated article 23 of the law “On the media,” which sets forth the prohibition of propaganda of war, violence and cruelty, national, religious exclusiveness and intolerance of other peoples and nations.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, closure of Azattyk is a stain on the speech freedom indicators in the country.
“Kyrgyz authorities should withdraw their application to close Radio Azattyk, unblock the outlet’s websites, unfreeze its bank accounts, and cease all attempts to silence the media,” said Gulnoza Said, coordinator of the CPJ programme in Europe and Central Asia.
According to the ministry of culture, the lawsuit was filed with court as a response to the failure to meet the authority’s demand to remove material from the media resource that caused its blocking. This decision is being challenged now in court. The first session was held on January 26. The lawsuit of the ministry of culture will be considered on February 8.
Hopes and attempts to establish a dialogue
Amid this situation, the information policy service of the presidential administration submitted the new law “On the media” to the public at the end of September 2022, which caused criticism of both the media community and lawyers.
In the middle of November, officials of the presidential administration agreed to create a working group with participation of journalists, independent lawyers and media experts at one of the roundtable discussions. They should have revised the new draft law “On the media” together.
Sadyr Zhaparov officially ordered to create the group on December 7. It consisted of 15 representatives of independent media community of the country. And the new draft law version was submitted to them on January 9.
“They have made some minor concessions, but, generally, they left the matters of registration, re-registration, which caused our concerns and anxiety, without changes. So, there are no significant changes for a better,” said Tamara Valieva, member of the working group, representative of the “Media Action Platform of Kyrgyzstan.”
According to her, they requested a full list of proposals to the draft law received from lawyers and media, but they failed to receive it. At the recent meeting, January 30, they could only look at the proposals received from state bodies.
One of the reasons why working group members insist on getting access to proposals is six new articles that concern bloggers and that have not been available in the draft law dated September 28. It is unclear who has proposed them.
“We were given proposals of ministries and agencies, which were already given during the discussion, but we could find those proposals among them. So who proposed them? If initiators did it, then the question is: how did they draft the law if they suggest to amend it? They say, amendments are based on discussions and international practice. But international practice should have been studied before drafting. […] They also said that some proposals were received anonymously. But their answer did not satisfy me,” said Nurdin Duishenbekov, representative of the public association “Journalists.”
Welcome to the company of media outlets with all the consequences
The section of six articles that has emerged in the new draft law automatically makes bloggers equal to the media. New provisions suggest that every individual account on social media administered in the territory of Kyrgyzstan and visited by 5 thousand and more unique users per month should be considered as the media and it respectively falls under the law.
According to the proposed provisions, they must post their photos and personal information – full name, date of birth, phone number and e-mail. A blogger is prohibited from disclosing information that constitute the state secret or secret protected by law; from spreading information about the private life of a person in breach of the law or in order to defame him/her on the grounds of sex, age, race, ethnic or regional background, etc. It is also specified that they must respect the rights and legal interests of citizens and legal entities, including honour, dignity and business reputation of citizens, legal entities, as well as verify the reliability of publicly available information before they post it, and immediately remove unreliable information.
In other words, a blogger who has only 5 thousand followers, but has no skills of a professional journalist, becomes the media outlet, according to the lawmakers. According to Nurdin Duishenbekov, the said criteria cannot stand up to any criticism.
He said that the media is primarily the organisation with a responsible person in it – the editor, and a few stages of verification of facts and materials. Besides, journalists follow their ethical code, and also there is the media complaints commission, which can be reached to resolve some disputes before trial.
“And what is a blogger? Unlike the media, he/she has a narrow focus. One blogger, for example, writes about fashion, but only about a small segment of it. Something in their own amateur manner. But the media can write on various topics simultaneously, especially news agencies that cover sports, culture, international news, and so on. It is a kind of a factory. And it is rather inappropriate to compare it to an amateur blogger,” Duishenbekov said.
The lawyer of the public foundation “Media Policy Institute” Akmat Alagushev also said that bloggers must be removed from the media law. They, just like all other citizens, fall under the law of Kyrgyzstan.
“They can always be found, identified, if they commit an offence, held liable. It is not necessary to register them, and so on. Therefore, we do not agree with it and will make our proposals,” Alagushev said.
Working group members also note that they still have not received the concept of proposed amendments, i.e. why this way was chosen, what task it is going to solve, and what are its instruments. The new norms suggested are not based on any analysis.
Lawyers note the absence of precise criteria of liability for any offence. Besides, members of the working group do not agree with authorised inspecting state bodies, which include not only the ministry of culture, information, sport and youth policy, but also the ministry of justice and general prosecutor’s office.
The working group is to complete work over the draft law by March 1. But this timeframe is too tight for this amount of work.
“There are many moments such as editorial policy, ownership, editors, journalists,” Alagushev said. “Many issues should be analysed clause by clause, and we have agreed to give them the agreed version of our suggestions, and they will refine, analyse it, and we all start discussing it. We have a lot of job to do.”
The media community does not even count on the presidential administration’s taking full account of the suggestions, yet it hopes to reach agreement somewhere in the middle.
“Although [Murat] Ukushev (lawmaker – editorial office) said that they would take account of everything, seek consensus, etc. He stated vaguely that we would have a discussion and try to reach an understanding through mutual persuasion. I asked for clarification on what he meant by consensus – did he mean that we would have to accept their point of view? We haven’t received a clear response yet, but we will safeguard the interests of the media industry.” Tamara Valieva said.
By results of 2022, Human Rights Watch described the condition of human rights and freedom of speech in Kyrgyzstan as “a restriction of critical voices.”
“Despite promises to uphold human rights and freedoms, Kyrgyz authorities restricted critical voices and civil society throughout the year,” said the organisation.
Meanwhile, despite all those facts, the national authorities deny every criticism of them and keep on insisting that there is the freedom of speech in Kyrgyzstan.