A court in Bishkek on January 17 sent 11 current and former reporters of the Temirov Live investigative group to pretrial detention until at least March 13 on a charge of "calling for mass riots" in an unspecified report. The journalists were detained on January 16, one day after Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security briefly detained for questioning the director and two editors of the 24.kg news agency on a charge of "propagating war" in an unspecified report about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Rights organizations and some Kyrgyz lawmakers have condemned the detentions, calling them an attack on free media. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.
Kyrgyz Investigative Journalists Sent To Pretrial Detention Accused Of Calling For Mass Riots
Detained journalists appear at the Birinchi Mai district court in Bishkek on January 17.