BISHKEK -- A court in Kyrgyzstan has ordered the Interior Ministry to provide materials related to a probe that led to the freezing of the bank accounts of RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, known locally as Radio Azattyk.
The Birinchi Mai district court in Bishkek handed down the decision on February 21 as the preliminary hearing into RFE/RL's appeal against the move to freeze its bank accounts resumed.
Judge Tilek Turdukulov said there may have been legal violations in the actions of the Interior Ministry's investigator Ulan Japekov, who initiated the move to freeze the bank accounts and added that RFE/RL's lawyers have a right to get acquainted with case materials.
In mid-November, the State Financial Intelligence (FChK) informed RFE/RL that its bank accounts were frozen in accordance with the law on countering money laundering after "a flag was raised" by security services. In December, the FChK told RFE/RL that, after a special inspection, the media outlet was excluded from the registry of potential money launderers. However, RFE/RL's bank accounts remain frozen.
Weeks before the move, the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports, and Youth Policies blocked Radio Azattyk's websites in Kyrgyz and Russian saying RFE/RL was refusing to remove a video about deadly clashes along a disputed segment of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border in September. The ministry has said the authors of the video "predominantly" took the position of the Tajik side.
The video in question was produced by Current Time, a Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with Voice of America.
In response, RFE/RL President and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Fly said the broadcaster "takes our commitment to balanced reporting seriously" and that after a review of the content in question, "no violation of our standards" was found.
Last month, the ministry told RFE/RL that it had asked a court in Bishkek to halt Radio Azattyk's media operations in the country over its refusal to remove the video from the Internet.
The preliminary hearing into RFE/RL's appeal against the blocking of Radio Azattyk's websites is expected to resume on March 2.
Earlier in February, Fly met with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov in Bishkek as part of his efforts to have Radio Azattyk's websites unblocked.
Dozens of media organizations, domestic and international rights groups, Kyrgyz politicians, and lawmakers have urged the government to unblock Radio Azattyk’s websites.
In early February, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the Kyrgyz authorities’ move to seek Radio Azattyk’s closure, saying the case poses “a major new obstacle to press freedom,” which it said is “under growing pressure” in Kyrgyzstan.