Kyrgyzstan court upholds convictions of 4 anti-corruption journalists

New York, December 18, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Kyrgyzstan court’s decision upholding ¹  convictions ²  against four journalists from anti-corruption investigative outlet Temirov Live, two of whom were sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

On Wednesday, the Bishkek City Court upheld an October 10 first instance court decision sentencing ³ Makhabat Tajibek kyzy to six years in prison, Azamat Ishenbekov to five years in prison, and reporter Aike Beishekeyeva and former reporter Aktilek Kaparov to three years of probation. Prosecutors did not appeal the acquittals of seven other current and former Temirov Live staff.

“Temirov Live’s bold anti-corruption coverage has made it the Kyrgyz government’s number one target. By upholding the outrageous prison sentences against director Makhabat Tajibek kyzy and presenter Azamat Ishenbekov, Kyrgyz authorities are confirming that they have no response to the outlet’s reporting but repression,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Authorities in Kyrgyzstan should immediately release Tajibek kyzy and Ishenbekov, not contest their Supreme Court appeals and the appeals of journalists Aike Beishekeyeva and Aktilek Kaparov, and end their campaign against the independent press.”

Temirov Live founder Bolot Temirov told CPJ from exile that the journalists plan to appeal their convictions to Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court.

Kyrgyz police arrested ⁴  11 current and former staff of Temirov Live, a local partner of the global Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), in January on charges of calling for mass unrest, accusing ⁵ the outlet of “indirectly” making such calls by “discrediting” authorities in their videos.

Authorities previously deported ⁶  Temirov ⁷ , an international award-winning ⁸  investigative reporter, and banned him from entering Kyrgyzstan for five years in retaliation for his work.

In November, CPJ submitted a report ⁹  on Kyrgyz authorities’ unprecedented ¹⁰  crackdown ¹¹  on independent ¹²  reporting ¹³  under current President Sadyr Japarov to the United Nations Human Rights Council ahead of its 2025 Universal Periodic Review of the country’s human rights record.

On Tuesday, Japarov ¹⁴  accused ¹⁵  U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Kyrgyz service ¹⁶  and “five or six other sites” of “using freedom of speech as a cover” to spread false information and warned them to “be careful” with their reporting on corruption.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists ¹⁷ and was authored by CPJ Staff.