Makhabat Tajibek kyzy, director of the YouTube-based anti-corruption investigative outlet Temirov Live, was sentenced on October 10, 2024, to six years in prison on charges of calling for mass unrest. As of late 2024, she was being held in Pretrial Detention Center No.1 in the capital Bishkek pending a ruling on her appeal, Tajibek kyzy’s husband Bolot Temirov, who is also the outlet’s exiled founder, told CPJ.
On January 16, 2024, police arrested Tajibek kyzy and 10 other current and former Temirov Live staff in dawn raids on their Bishkek homes. The officers took Tajibek kyzy to Temirov Live’s office, where they confiscated computer equipment and sealed the premises.
Authorities accused Temirov Live and sister project Ait Ait Dese of “discrediting” the government in their videos and thereby “indirectly” calling for mass unrest, according to the verdict, reviewed by CPJ. Defense lawyers said the prosecutors misapplied incitement legislation, which requires active calls to be made during actual unrest.
A local partner of global investigative network Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Temirov Live is known for investigating senior state officials including President Sadyr Japarov.
In 2022, authorities raided the outlet, unlawfully deported Temirov and banned him from Kyrgyzstan for five years. Overwhelming evidence suggested police planted drugs on the award-winning journalist in retaliation for his reporting.
In April 2024, Tajibek kyzy accused prison guards of beating her but authorities said she faked the injuries, including bruising to her face and arms.
In its October ruling, the Bishkek court also found three other Temirov Live journalists guilty of inciting unrest: Azamat Ishenbekov (link to cap) was jailed for five years while Aike Beishekeyeva and Aktilek Kaparov were given probationary sentences.
In its verdict, the court relied exclusively on video analyses by state-appointed expert linguists and political scientists. One former expert alleged that the experts’ analyses were dictated by security services.
Since Japarov came to power in 2020, authorities have launched an unprecedented crackdown on independent reporting in a country previously seen as a regional haven for the free press.
On November 25, the convicted Temirov Live journalists’ appeal got underway in Bishkek City Court. Local media reported that the presiding panel of judges included judges who issued the unlawful deportation order against Temirov.
CPJ’s emails to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan requesting comment on allegations of planting drugs on Temirov and to the Penitentiary Service seeking comment on Tazhibek kyzy’s alleged beating were not answered.