RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, known locally as Radio Azattyk, says it has filed an administrative suit appealing the blocking of its websites in the Central Asian country.
The court has yet to confirm that the suit, filed on December 15, has been officially registered for consideration.
The Kyrgyz government blocked Radio Azattyk's websites in Kyrgyz and Russian on October 26 after the broadcaster refused to take down a video about clashes along a disputed segment of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border.
Officials claimed the video, produced by Current Time, a Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with Voice of America, "predominantly" took the position of the Tajik side.
The government decision was based on the Law on Protection from False Information, legislation that drew widespread criticism when it was adopted in August 2021. Analysts said it would stifle free speech and independent reporting by the media.
Radio Azattyk's bank account in Bishkek was frozen at the time, and in November, Kyrgyz authorities suspended the accreditations of 11 RFE/RL correspondents at parliament.
"RFE/RL is continuing to exercise all legal remedies available under Kyrgyz law," RFE/RL President and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Fly said in a statement on December 15.
"As over 100 prominent Kyrgyz figures recently attested, Azattyk has a rich 70-year history and should continue its operations free from government pressure and harassment," he added.
RFE/RL's move comes two days after almost 120 Kyrgyz public figures, writers, actors, politicians, and activists urged President Sadyr Japarov and other top officials to unblock Radio Azattyk's websites.
"It is impossible to overestimate the significant contribution Radio Azattyk has made during its 70-year history to the formation of the sovereign, independent Kyrgyzstan, to the achievement of the liberty Kyrgyz people dreamed about and for which our ancestors fought during the Soviet period," the letter said, urging the country's leaders to immediately and fully restore Radio Azattyk's operations.
Earlier this week, RFE/RL's lawyers filed a complaint in a district court in Bishkek challenging the suspension of Radio Azattyk's bank account.
In solidarity with RFE/RL, independent Kyrgyz media outlets on October 28 posted a black screen on their webpages from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. local time with the caption: "No news today. Media under pressure in Kyrgyzstan," and also refused to cover news stories about the government for the whole day.
SEE ALSO: Independent Kyrgyz Media Post Dark Page To Protest Government's Blocking Of RFE/RL WebsitesEarlier in October, threats were made against RFE/RL journalists during a demonstration in Bishkek at the office of the Kyrgyz Service. Most of the participants of the action covered their faces, avoided the camera, and refused to answer questions about their demands.
Ilimbek Israilov, the organizer of the demonstration, threatened to spray gasoline on RFE/RL reporters and use force against them. Israilov is known for organizing of numerous rallies to support the former deputy chief of the Customs Service, Raimbek Matraimov.
In 2019, an investigation by RFE/RL, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and Kloop implicated former deputy chief of the Customs Service Raimbek Matraimov in a corruption scheme involving the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars out of Kyrgyzstan.