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The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned on Thursday a lawsuit filed by the Kyrgyz prosecutor’s office against the independent media outlet, Aprel TV, for alleged “negative” and “destructive” coverage of government activities. CPJ said that such practices of closing media outlets is unacceptable in a democratic society.
The Prosecutor’s Office of the Oktyabrsky District of Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, filed the said lawsuit against Aprel TV on Wednesday demanding that it cease its activities and revoke its broadcasting permission. The Authority stated that it had filed a lawsuit on grounds of public security and stopping the dissemination of unlawful information.
Aprel TV’s editorial staff explained that the complaint noted illegal information being contained in the channel’s materials in which there are signs of negative attitude to the current government, which allegedly undermines the authority, causes mistrust among the audience and can lead to riots. Aprel noted that it supports the work of law enforcement agencies to prevent harmful acts, while simultaneously stressing the importance of freedom of speech as a foundation of a democratic society.
CPJ`s Europe and Central Asia Senior Researcher Anna Brakha said that Kyrgyz authorities must permit Aprel TV to function without restrictions. She condemned the trend of closing news outlets in Kyrgyzstan on unjustified grounds for their “negative” reporting and emphasized that “In a democratic society, critical news coverage is not grounds to shutter the media.”
The human rights situation in Kyrgyzstan remains unstable. Since President Sadyr Japarov came to power in 2021, pressure on civil society and independent media has increased. Victims of inter-ethnic violence face denial of justice, gender-based violence remains unpunished, and freedom of assembly is restricted.
In 2024, 145 attacks and threats against journalists and media outlets were reported. The most common forms of pressure on the media were judicial and economic attacks. However, there were also other incidents such as confiscation of editorial property, and arrests and imprisonment of investigative journalists who exposed corruption among the country’s top leadership. Such actions have raised severe rule of law concerns.
Legislative pressure on independent media in Kyrgyzstan includes the “Foreign Representatives” Law, ratified last year, which requires certain non-profits, including media organizations, to register as “foreign representatives.” CPJ has previously called on Kyrgyzstan to repeal this law, arguing that such legislation, similar to the “foreign agents” law currently in place in Russia, threatens freedom of speech and democracy in Kyrgyzstan and could hinder the work of groups advocating press freedom.
The post Press advocacy group condemns Kyrgyz lawsuit against independent media outlet appeared first on JURIST - News.
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The Prosecutor’s Office of the Oktyabrsky District of Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, filed the said lawsuit against Aprel TV on Wednesday demanding that it cease its activities and revoke its broadcasting permission. The Authority stated that it had filed a lawsuit on grounds of public security and stopping the dissemination of unlawful information.
Aprel TV’s editorial staff explained that the complaint noted illegal information being contained in the channel’s materials in which there are signs of negative attitude to the current government, which allegedly undermines the authority, causes mistrust among the audience and can lead to riots. Aprel noted that it supports the work of law enforcement agencies to prevent harmful acts, while simultaneously stressing the importance of freedom of speech as a foundation of a democratic society.
CPJ`s Europe and Central Asia Senior Researcher Anna Brakha said that Kyrgyz authorities must permit Aprel TV to function without restrictions. She condemned the trend of closing news outlets in Kyrgyzstan on unjustified grounds for their “negative” reporting and emphasized that “In a democratic society, critical news coverage is not grounds to shutter the media.”
The human rights situation in Kyrgyzstan remains unstable. Since President Sadyr Japarov came to power in 2021, pressure on civil society and independent media has increased. Victims of inter-ethnic violence face denial of justice, gender-based violence remains unpunished, and freedom of assembly is restricted.
In 2024, 145 attacks and threats against journalists and media outlets were reported. The most common forms of pressure on the media were judicial and economic attacks. However, there were also other incidents such as confiscation of editorial property, and arrests and imprisonment of investigative journalists who exposed corruption among the country’s top leadership. Such actions have raised severe rule of law concerns.
Legislative pressure on independent media in Kyrgyzstan includes the “Foreign Representatives” Law, ratified last year, which requires certain non-profits, including media organizations, to register as “foreign representatives.” CPJ has previously called on Kyrgyzstan to repeal this law, arguing that such legislation, similar to the “foreign agents” law currently in place in Russia, threatens freedom of speech and democracy in Kyrgyzstan and could hinder the work of groups advocating press freedom.
The post Press advocacy group condemns Kyrgyz lawsuit against independent media outlet appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.