BISHKEK -- A day after searching the offices of the news website 24.kg, law enforcement officers in the Kyrgyz capital detained for questioning eight current and former members of the Temirov Live investigative group and the Ait Ait Dese project, as the government continues to pressure independent media.
Temirov Live's founder, prominent investigative journalist Bolot Temirov, said the journalists who were detained for questioning after their homes and offices were searched on January 16 included his wife and the director of the Temirov Live group, Makhabat Tajybek-kyzy.
Temirov said on X, formerly Twitter, that the searches and detentions may be connected to two recent investigative reports by Temirov Live -- one about a private New Year's Eve flight by President Sadyr Japarov to Milan, Italy, on a government plane, the second about corruption among top officials of the Interior Ministry, including minister Ulan Niyazbekov.
The Interior Ministry issued a statement, saying that the searches and detentions for questioning were linked to a probe launched into unspecified Temirov Live publications that "carried elements of calls for mass unrest."
Temirov said that Temirov Live reporters Sapar Akunbekov, Azamat Ishenbekov, and Aike Beishekeeva, as well as former journalists of the group Aktilek Kaparov, Tynystan Asypbek, Saipidin Sultanaliev, and Joodar Buzumov, also had their homes searched.
Temirov, who was deported to Moscow in November 2022 after a court ruled that he illegally obtained Kyrgyz citizenship, which he denies, added that two other employees of the Temirov Live group, whom he identified as Maksat and Jumabek, were detained.
Kyrgyzstan's civil society and independent media have traditionally been the most vibrant in Central Asia, but that has changed amid a deepening government crackdown.
Just a day earlier, officers of the State Committee for National Security (UKMK) detained for questioning the director-general of the 24.kg news website, Asel Otorbaeva, and two editors, Makhinur Niyazova and Anton Lymar, in a case of "propagating war" in an unspecified report about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The three were later released but ordered not to reveal details of the case.
Lawmaker Janar Akaev called the moves against the journalists "an attack on freedom of speech."
"Such types of situations lead to self-censorship, and obstruct investigative reports on political and corruption issues," Akaev said, adding that the latest developments around independent journalists will be raised at parliament's next session.
Another lawmaker, Nurjigit Kadyrbekov, told RFE/RL that the ongoing pressure on independent journalists "could damage the president's image."
UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Liz Throssell expressed concern over the developments around Kyrgyz journalists in the past two days.
"These latest actions by the authorities appear to be part of a larger pattern of pressure against civil society activists, journalists and other critics of the authorities," Throssel said in a statement on January 16, adding, "It is all the more concerning that the Kyrgyz Parliament is considering a draft law on mass media which would restrict the right to freedom of expression which includes media freedom."
"We call on the authorities to protect freedom of expression and ensure that media legislation in the country is in line with international human rights standards," Throssel said.