Experts emphasise the bad trend in terms of mass attacks on the media and the freedom of speech in Kyrgyzstan.
Photo: Stalbek Abdizhalil uulu
On February 9, a protest was held in Bishkek in front of the building of Kaktus.media, an editorial office of the independent internet portal, with the demands to penalise the media outlet and recognise it as a foreign agent.
This is the second similar protest action. The first one was held on January 28, and its participants demanded to close the media outlet. The protesters were angry with the way the journalists covered the conflict on the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
On January 27, the media outlet reprinted the article of Asia-Plus, a Tajik news agency, and the readers didn’t like it. After outcries on the social media, the website posted the explanation about the publication. The journalists apologised to the readers and noted that “the only purpose of the publication was to show the society of Kyrgyzstan what version is reported by the authorities to the ordinary citizens of Tajikistan.”
On the same day, a group of people gathered near the editors’ office. The protesters said that Kaktus.media “publishes provocative materials” and “the media outlet must be closed despite their apologies.”
On February 1, it became known that the prosecutor’s office of Pervomaisky district opened a criminal investigation under article 407 “Propaganda of war, namely dissemination of views, ideas or calls in any form with the purpose of causing aggression in one country against another one, or initiating a military conflict” of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic. According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, the article about the armed conflict in the border area published on the website of Kaktus.media contained unreliable information that the soldiers of Kyrgyzstan were the first to start shooting and thus instigated Tajikistan.
Lawyer of the Media Policy Institute Nurbek Sydykov, who represents Kaktus.media, said there must be no persecutions regarding this material. And this can be proved, according to him, by numerous factors.
“First, let’s see the content of the published material,” he said in his comment to CABAR.asia. “This is just the material, or, as they call it, the reprint with reference to the original source. This publication does not contain any calls for wrongful acts.”
Moreover, according to the lawyer, the publication did not cause any consequences, which proves that it did not contain any provoking materials.
“Besides, war is provoked on the basis of the express malice, but the material does not contain such a malice,” Sydykov said. “Therefore, we think that this case has no chance in court.”
The editors’ office took the situation as pressure on the freedom of speech. Independent Union of Journalists shares this opinion. According to chair Azamat Kasybekov, the material may have been published without a proper check, but a criminal case is a too much leverage.
“In other words, once a case is opened, they can apply other methods – call for questioning, raise some tax issues,” Kasybekov said. “This is also the tool of putting pressure on the editors’ office.”
Kaktus.media employees are being questioned now. They all had received gag orders preventing them to disclose any information about the pre-trial procedure.
“They don’t like independent people”
During the protest on January 28 at the office building of Kaktus.media, protesters accused other independent media outlets such as April TV channel, Radio Azattyk Media, and news agency Kloop. According to the protesters, “these media outlets disseminate information that conflicts with interests of Kyrgyzstan.”
On February 8, four people calling themselves bloggers and activists spoke at the Bishkek press conference and demanded to adopt the law “on foreign agents” in Kyrgyzstan. According to them, a status of a “foreign agent or spy” should be assigned to those media outlets that are financed from abroad. However, they stated that this law was not the pressure on the freedom of speech. But they failed to answer the clarifying questions about what the status of a “foreign agent” meant to them.
The chair of Independent Union of Journalists, Azamat Kasybekov, in comments to CABAR.asia said that the society does not like independent people.
“In fact, it is a common accusation when they say that if a person gets some grants, he works for international institutions, not a patriot, battles against the country, etc.,” Kasybekov said. “This is not true. In fact, independent media outlets raise many issues that other don’t like to hear about.”
In general, experts observe a bad trend in terms of mass attacks on the media outlets and freedom of speech in Kyrgyzstan because the criminal case against Kaktus.media was opened in a short time after the detention of investigative journalist Bolot Temirov.
Media expert Akmat Alagushev said that the freedom of speech in Kyrgyzstan is now undergoing a difficult period in its development, when any criticism of authorities is persecuted and any dissent is suppressed.
“Criminal cases, summons for questioning on knowingly hopeless cases related to the border conflict are clear evidence,” he said.
According to political analyst Emil Dzhuraev, everything that happens lately with various independent media outlets is obviously linked with political trends taking place in the country. He noted that according to the new Constitution and everything related to it, there is a tendency towards strong centralisation – control, decision-making, development, and other things.
“This centralisation has not yet covered mass media, journalism, and possibly civil society organisation,” the expert said. “But they are rather sizeable outlets that voice all dissents, dubious views and discontent of the people about some decision-making.”
According to Dzhuraev, this is probably why the authorities try to restrict the capacity of the media and civil society for non-conformity so that the public life of the country meets the general centralisation trend.
What’s next?
According to experts, independent media outlets of Kyrgyzstan are now undergoing the hardest times. And one of such tests, according to chair of Independent Union of Journalists Azamat Kasybekov, is the financial issue.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated that the significant portion of advertising went to social media, and many media outlets simply closed down,” Kasybekov said. “In addition to economic problems, we have some pressure on the representatives of the journalistic society. It’s hard to say what is going to be next. Unfortunately, there are no ready recipes for a way out of this situation.”
In the morning of February 9, Media Policy Institute published the message, where it urged the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Main Department of Internal Affairs of Bishkek to ensure safety of journalists during the protests, which are possible near the offices of Kaktus.media and Kloop.
The message says that “a negative atmosphere is being created around media companies; press conferences are being held to play down the status of journalists, and the activities of independent media outlets, including Kloop and Kaktus.media are discredited; insults aimed at them are being made; some people threaten to close down the companies and urge the citizens to support the protests.”
The Institute has reminded that according to the Constitution, everyone has a right to voice freely one’s opinion, the freedom of speech and press freedom. On the basis of the law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On protection of professional activity of a journalist”, in Kyrgyzstan it is prohibited to persecute journalists for their professional activity, and according to the law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the bodies of internal affairs”, law enforcement bodies must “ensure protection and security of every person and the society, as well as the public order.”
According to experts, now journalists need to unite and show solidarity with each other. Moreover, they need to improve their media and legal literacy, and check publications for reliability before issue.