Spokesman for President of Kyrgyzstan responds to letter of U.S. senators
The spokesman for the President of Kyrgyzstan responded to a letter from U.S. senators, who called on the country’s authorities to stop attacking journalists and unblock Radio Azattyk. Erbol Sultanbayev posted the response on his Facebook page.
According to him, it has become known from the media that two U.S. senators sent a letter to the President Sadyr Japarov regarding the situation around Azattyk, which expresses concern about the alleged pressure on freedom of speech in the country.
«It is noted that this allegedly violates international norms in terms of freedom of speech and the press and the guarantees given by the Constitution. I would like to remind that the decision to suspend the work of Azattyk Media website by the hosting provider for two months was made by the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy in connection with the dissemination of false information about the events on September 14-17, 2022 in Batken region. Prior to the adoption of this decision, the ministry sent written notices to the office of Azattyk Media several times. Using its right, in accordance with the current legislation, the work of the website was suspended. That is, it was not a deliberate measure, but a response to a violation of the current legislation prohibiting the dissemination of false information,» Sadyr Japarov’s spokesman wrote.
In his opinion, «Kyrgyzstan is a free, democratic country, where all conditions for the full functioning of independent media are created.»
