Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a December 22 statement urged Kyrgyz authorities to drop all charges against activist Aftandil Jorobekov and release him after he was arrested for openly protesting changes to Kyrgyzstan's national flag and charged with calls for mass disorder and civil disobedience.
HRW said the charges brought against Jorobekov "violate his freedom of expression and right to peaceful assembly."
"Jorobekov should not be facing criminal prosecution for opposing a government initiative or calling for peaceful protests, all protected forms of expression,” HRW's Central Asia researcher, Syinat Sultanalieva, said. “Kyrgyz authorities should drop the charges and release Jorobekov immediately.”
On December 20, Kyrgyz authorities approved in final reading a bill amending the Central Asian country's national flag as many in the former Soviet republic continued protesting the move.
The bill, initiated by President Sadyr Japarov, argues that the wavy yellow rays of a sun on a red field on the current flag resemble a sunflower. The Kyrgyz word for sunflower is kunkarama, but it also means "dependent."
The bill, expected to be signed into law by Japarov, will allow the "straightening" of the sunrays in order to depict a more sun-like image, lawmakers have said, also arguing that the flag’s current image conjures up thoughts of Kyrgyzstan's dependence on foreign loans and investments.
The 39-year-old activist was detained on December 7, one day after he voiced his disapproval of the bill and announced his plan to hold a peaceful protest in Bishkek's Gorky Park on December 9.
"Criticizing the government and calling for peaceful protest is not the equivalent of stoking mass unrest, and it is certainly not criminal," Sultanalieva said. "Kyrgyz authorities should drop this absurd case against Jorobekov and uphold his right to free speech and peaceful assembly."
Meanwhile, many politicians, activists, and public figures in Kyrgyzstan continue to question the idea to change the national flag.
Prominent Kyrgyz athlete and two-time world wrestling champion Jolaman Sharshenbekov wrote on Twitter on December 21 that he will continue raising the country’s old national flag at international tournaments and competitions.
The head of the country's State Committee of National Security, Kamchybek Tashiev, immediately commented on Sharshenbekov's post, threatening with unspecified repercussions any athletes who "even try" to raise anything other than the amended national flag at sports events.
"The law is adopted, and we, the citizens, must obey," Tashiev wrote.