Eight human right groups on September 6 called on Kyrgyz authorities to retract their decision to liquidate the award-winning investigative outlet Kloop Media.
The initial decision by a court in Bishkek ordering the closure of the Kloop Media Public Foundation was made in early February. The court said then that the group's website was distributing "false information aimed at damaging the reputation of Kyrgyz officials."
Last week, Kloop reported that its staff learned days earlier that the Supreme Court on July 16 had upheld a lower court's ruling to shut down the outlet. Kloop has now exhausted its chance to appeal.
Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, the International Partnership for Human Rights, Civil Rights Defenders, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Article 19, the International Federation for Human Rights, and the World Organization Against Torture condemned the court decision in a joint statement.
"The forced closure of Kloop Media not only silences a crucial voice in Kyrgyzstani society but also signals a continued decline in Kyrgyzstan's respect for civil and political rights and freedoms of its citizens," said Hugh Williamson, HRW's Europe and Central Asia director.
"This action undermines the public's right to information and further weakens the foundations of democratic governance in the country."
SEE ALSO: Closing The Kloop: Kyrgyzstan's Media Crackdown Becomes Farcical As Leading Journalism Foundation ShutteredSince the initial court ruling in February, the case has wound its way through the Kyrgyz courts.
In March, the Bishkek Administrative Court canceled the ministry's move to block Kloop's Russian-language site, after which the ministry appealed the ruling to the Bishkek City Court.
In early June, the Bishkek City Court ruled that the move by the Culture Ministry to shut down Kloop was legitimate.
Separately, Kloop's Kyrgyz-language website was blocked in November 2023 amid a government campaign to pressure the Kloop foundation.
The ministry said it disrupted the sites after the State Committee for National Security (UKMK) claimed that Kloop had distributed false information.
The claim referred to a report on Kloop's website in September about jailed opposition politician Ravshan Jeenbekov and a statement he made about being tortured while in custody.
The ministry demanded Kloop remove an article about the alleged torture of Jeenbekov that appeared on its Russian-language website or face being blocked.
Kloop refused to remove the material, saying the story in question attributed all information about the situation faced by Jeenbekov while in custody to actual individuals and sources.
Kloop said at the time that it was officially informed of the lawsuit against it and that the move was made after an audit by the UKMK determined its "published materials are aimed at sharply criticizing the policies of the current government" and "most of the published materials are purely negative, aimed at discrediting representatives of state and municipal bodies."
Established in June 2007, Kloop is a Kyrgyz news website whose main contributors are students and graduates of the Kloop Media Public Foundation School of Journalism.
As an independent media entity, it is known for publishing reports on corruption in various governmental bodies and for providing training to Central Asian journalists in fact-checking and investigative techniques.