The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on the Kyrgyz authorities to "immediately drop" charges against eight detained journalists from the Temirov Live investigative journalism group and warned of an "intensifying press freedom crisis" in the Central Asian country.
In a statement dated March 13, CPJ Europe and Central Asia program coordinator Gulnoza Said called on Kyrgyz authorities to stop the crackdown on the independent media after a court in the capital, Bishkek, extended by two months the pretrial detention of Temirov Live director Makhabat Tajibek-kyzy and seven other current and former staff members for allegedly "calling for mass riots," a charge they reject.
"By extending their incarceration, the country’s authorities are signaling their intention to continue this repressive course," according to Said.
Along with Tajibek-kyzy, Aike Beishekeeva, Azamat Ishenbekov, Saipidin Sultanaliev, Aktilek Kaparov, Tynystan Asypbekov, Joodar Buzumov, and Maksat Tajibek-uulu were ordered by the court to remain in pretrial detention until at least May 13.
Two other journalists, Sapar Akunbekov and Akyl Orozbekov, were transferred to house arrest, while Jumabek Turdaliev was ordered not to leave Bishkek before the trial.
The journalists were detained on January 16 after police searched their homes and offices on a charge of "calling for disobedience and mass riots" over the group's reporting.
A day before that, the State Committee for National Security (UKMK) briefly detained for questioning the director and two editors of the independent 24.kg news agency after searching their homes and offices in a case of "propagating war" because of the outlet's coverage of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
SEE ALSO: Kyrgyzstan's Vibrant Media Space In Peril After Journalists Raided, JailedKyrgyzstan's civil society and free press have traditionally been the most vibrant in Central Asia. But that has changed amid a deepening government crackdown.
In January, eight international human rights groups -- Civil Rights Defenders, Human Rights Watch, the International Partnership for Human Rights, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, People in Need, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, the International Federation for Human Rights, and the World Organization Against Torture -- called on the Kyrgyz government to stop its crackdown on independent media, calling the reporters' arrests "intimidation and harassment" of journalists to keep them from carrying out their work.