Kyrgyzstan

We issued the following statement after the state broadcaster in Kyrgyzstan said it would not carry programming by the popular Kyrgyz-language service of US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty unless all content was cleared in advance with the government...

In response to Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Dmitry Fedorov's announcement today about the progress of the official Kyrgyz investigation into the October 2007 murder of ethnic Uzbek journalist Alisher Saipov, we released the following statement...

Alisher Saipov, a 26-year-old independent editor, was brutally silenced on October 24, 2007. An unidentified killer fired at him three times, using a Makarov pistol, in his hometown of Osh, Kyrgyzstan. 

New York, June 17, 2008--Police in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek raided the newsroom of independent newspaper De-Facto on June 14, taking all its financial records, confiscating computers, and sealing the newsroom, the independent regional news Web site Ferghana reported. The paper was shut down after it published a letter to Kyrgyzstan's president and other public officials that alleged official corruption.

New York, May 15, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to veto a bill that would reverse efforts to reform Kyrgyzstan’s state television and radio company (KTR) into a public broadcaster.

Kyrgyzstan’s parliament passed the bill on April 24. It gives the president the right to appoint KTR’s chief executives and affirms the state’s monopoly on national broadcasting. Bakiyev is expected to approve or reject it by May 24, according to local press reports and CPJ sources.

New York, April 10, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the Kyrgyzstan authorities’ closure of the investigation into the October murder of Alisher Saipov, editor of the independent Uzbek-language weekly Siyosat (Politics). This is the second time authorities have officially closed the investigation in as many months.

New York, April 10, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the Kyrgyzstan authorities’ closure of the investigation into the October murder of Alisher Saipov, editor of the independent Uzbek-language weekly Siyosat (Politics). This is the second time authorities have officially closed the investigation in as many months.

February 22, 2008

His Excellency Kurmanbek Bakiyev
President of Kyrgyzstan
Dom Pravitelstva
Bishkek 720003
Kyrgyzstan

Via facsimile: + 996 (312) 62 7072 and +996 (312) 21 8627

Dear Mr. President,

The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the lack of progress in the investigation into the October assassination of Alisher Saipov, editor of the independent Uzbek-language weekly Siyosat (Politics). Four months after this brazen crime, Kyrgyz officials in charge of the probe announced--amid conflicting press reports--that the investigation was suspended. The Saipov family was not informed of the suspension in time to seek reconsideration.

One prominent editor was slain and other journalists faced escalating government harassment, violent attacks, and lawlessness amid intense political rivalry between President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and opposition parties in parliament. In the face of recurring protests, Bakiyev periodically made political concessions to the opposition, only to withdraw or undermine the agreements after demonstrators had gone home. Seemingly focused on political obfuscation, the administration was unable to effectively tackle widespread crime, corruption, and poverty, and Bakiyev became steadily more reliant on authoritarian policies to keep the upper hand with opposition parties, civil society activists, and independent journalists.