The international human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) calls on the authorities of Kyrgyzstan to immediately withdraw the lawsuit to terminate the operation of Azattyk Media and cease its harassment of independent media outlets.

«Shutting down Azattyk Media would be a huge blow to media freedom in Kyrgyzstan and the lawsuit should be immediately withdrawn,» said Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. «The government needs to end its attempts to control and censor independent journalism in Kyrgyzstan and restore its commitment to international human rights obligations, particularly to media freedom.»

The Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy of Kyrgyzstan filed a lawsuit with the Leninsky District Court of Bishkek to terminate the activities of Azattyk Media institution as a media outlet.

On October 27, the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy of Kyrgyzstan announced that it had suspended the operation of Radio Azattyk website for two months. The ministry noted that on September 16, the Current Time resource (subordinate structure of Azattyk Media) published a video entitled «Heavy fighting on the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan», in which «elements of hate speech, unconfirmed information about the alleged attack by the Kyrgyz side on Tajikistan were used, as well as information that aggravates the situation in society and causes hatred, discrimination and division among citizens when covering events in Batken region.»

Kyrgyzstan’s media community has expressed its concern over the Kyrgyz government’s continued harassment of independent journalists and attempts to restrict media freedom, saying that the ministry should withdraw the lawsuit.

As the human rights activists note, Kyrgyz authorities have recently increased efforts to control and censor mass media amid a continued crackdown on freedom of expression and civil society.

«Kyrgyz authorities should ensure favorable conditions for independent media in the country, not just on paper, but with their actions. The Kyrgyz government should stand up for independent media, not undermine its work,» Sultanalieva said.