CPJ: Kyrgyz president must veto ‘dangerous’ media law
New York, July 2, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov to veto a new mass media law that would require all publications to register with the state and heavily restricts any foreign legal entities from founding or owning media outlets. Parliament passed the bill, which would allow an authorized state body…
Kyrgyz authorities move to shutter Aprel TV over ‘negative’ government coverage
New York, April 24, 2025 —The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a lawsuit filed by Kyrgyz prosecutors against independent broadcaster Aprel TV, which the outlet reported on April 23, over alleged “negative” and “destructive” coverage of the government. “Kyrgyz authorities continue a deplorable pattern of shuttering news outlets on illegitimate grounds that their ‘negative’ reporting could spark…
CPJ details Kyrgyzstan’s media crackdown ahead of UN human rights review
The Committee to Protect Journalists has submitted a report on the state of press freedom and journalist safety in Kyrgyzstan to the United Nations Human Rights Council ahead of its 2025 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session. CPJ’s submission, together with Austria-based human rights group Freedom for Eurasia and the Free Russia Foundation, highlights the sharp…
Kyrgyzstan president signs Russian-style ‘foreign agents’ law
Stockholm, April 2, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists called for Kyrgyzstan to repeal a law, newly ratified on Tuesday by President Sadyr Japarov, that requires some nonprofits, including media organizations, to register as “foreign representatives.” “President Sadyr Japarov’s decision to follow Russia’s lead on ‘foreign agent’ legislation threatens to erase Kyrgyzstan’s 30-year status as a…
Kyrgyzstan parliament approves ‘foreign agents’ law
Stockholm, March 15, 2024—Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov should reject Russian-inspired legislation that would designate externally funded media rights groups and nonprofits that run news outlets as “foreign representatives,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Thursday, Kyrgyzstan’s parliament approved in a third and final reading, without debate, a bill requiring nonprofits that receive foreign…
CPJ welcomes Kyrgyzstan’s withdrawal of restrictive media bill
Stockholm, March 13, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Wednesday’s decision by Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov to withdraw from parliament a draft law that could have been weaponized against the independent press. “Alongside Kyrgyzstan’s ongoing media crackdown, jailing of journalists, and Russian-inspired ‘foreign agents’ bill, the vague and repressive mass media bill could have been…
Kyrgyz authorities apply to shutter investigative outlet Kloop
Stockholm, August 28, 2023—Kyrgyz authorities should withdraw their application to shutter Kloop Media, a non-profit foundation that runs the independent news and anti-corruption investigative website Kloop, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On August 22, the city prosecutor in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, applied to the courts to liquidate Kloop Media because the foundation’s charter…
Kyrgyz authorities block news website Res Publica under controversial false news law
Stockholm, August 8, 2022 – Kyrgyzstan authorities should immediately restore access to independent news website Res Publica and repeal a recently enacted false information law that severely threatens press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On July 21, Res Publica editor-in-chief Zamira Sydykova announced on the outlet’s website and on her Facebook page…
Kyrgyz journalists on the online ‘fake farms’ that threaten to kill them
“At first, they appeared on my Instagram, then they showed up on my Facebook and YouTube accounts,” Ali Toktakunov told CPJ in a phone interview. The investigative Kyrgyz journalist and founder of Ali Toktakunov’s Media Hub, a foundation for investigative journalism, says he is a frequent target of trolls or fake social media accounts that…