A group of 24 press freedom and human rights watchdogs have issued a statement calling on Kyrgyzstan’s interim government to respect media freedoms.
Their assessment highlights both good and bad steps the new government has taken, noting that “The concern remains that these 'positive' steps are primarily aimed against the control of the media by the former government, whilst the 'negative' steps […] are aimed at consolidating control by the interim government.”
Good:
-Re-starting broadcasts of the Kyrgyz services of Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty on state radio; -Appointing journalists who are known to be qualified and independent to the management of NTRK (KTR) state television and radio; -Taking serious steps to investigate the attempted take-over of www.24.kg and publicly recognising the illegality of this attempt; -Removing arrest orders against newspapers that were closed in March based on libel charges relating to the former President.
Bad:
However, despite these positive steps, several negative occurrences have also taken place. Amongst others, these have included: -Takeover attempts, like the effort to take control of the online media, www.24.kg, on 15 April by armed National Security Council (SNB) representatives; -Announcements of nationalisation plans of privately-owned media, including Channel 5 and Piramida; -Journalists and their defenders receiving threatening phone calls about the publication of articles criticizing the Interim Government; -Access to information being limited for journalists, particularly in the regions; -Lack of transparency and information about decision-making of the Interim Government.
David Trilling is Eurasianet’s managing editor.
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