BISHKEK -- A court in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, has accepted a request from the Culture Ministry to shut down the operations of RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, known locally as Radio Azattyk -- a decision the company called "outrageous" -- over the broadcaster's refusal to remove a video on clashes along a disputed segment of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border.
RFE/RL lawyer Timur Sultanov said immediately after Judge Cholpon Karimbaeva pronounced her decision on April 27 that the ruling will be appealed to the Bishkek City Court as "during the process we presented our arguments based on the law and constitution. Unfortunately, the court did not hear us."
RFE/RL President and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Fly added that RFE/RL will appeal the court’s "outrageous" decision.
"Our history has shown us that when people want truthful information that is censored by their government, they will find ways to access it," Fly said.
Amnesty International said the allegation made by the Kyrgyz authorities about the video is false and a pretense for shutting down the broadcaster.
"The authorities have been seeking any excuse to shut down an independent media voice," Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said in a statement.
Struthers said the move to shut down Radio Azattyk is a major blow to freedom of expression in the country.
"The Kyrgyzstani authorities have taken a further step towards silencing critical coverage of events in the country and muzzling journalists," Struthers said.
Amnesty International also reiterated its call for Kyrgyz authorities to withdraw their order to shut down Radio Azattyk, stop the harassment and intimidation of journalists and government critics, and fully respect and protect freedom of expression for all media in Kyrgyzstan.
The ministry requested the halt in media operations by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service in January, citing Radio Azattyk's refusal to remove from the Internet a video about clashes in September 2022 along a disputed segment of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border.
Kyrgyz authorities blocked Radio Azattyk's websites in Kyrgyz and Russian in late October after it refused to take down the video in question, which was produced by Current Time, a Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with Voice of America.
Officials of the Central Asian state have claimed that the authors of the video "predominantly" took the position of the Tajik side.
The authorities said the decision was based on the Law on Protection from False Information, legislation that drew widespread criticism when it was adopted in August 2021.
RFE/RL has said it "takes our commitment to balanced reporting seriously" and that after a review of the content in question, "no violation of our standards" was found.
Radio Azattyk's bank account in Bishkek was also frozen after the websites were blocked, while in November, Kyrgyz authorities suspended the accreditations of 11 RFE/RL correspondents at parliament.
The Kyrgyz government's decision to block Radio Azattyk's websites has been criticized by domestic and international human rights watchdogs, Kyrgyz politicians, celebrities, intellectuals, journalists, lawmakers, and rights activists, who have called for the government to repeal it.
RFE/RL lawyer Sultanov said the Lenin district court's decision on April 27 "answered the question" as to whether "Kyrgyz citizens have a right to receive and share true information or if that right is just nominally written in the constitution."