RFE/RL President Jamie Fly has demanded an investigation into threats made against RFE/RL journalists during a demonstration on October 13 in Bishkek at the office of RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service.
Ilimbek Israilov, organizer of the demonstration, called for the closure of RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, also known as Radio Azattyk, Kloop, and another media outlet associated with it and said he would collect signatures from people who back its closure.
During the protest Israilov threatened to spray gasoline on RFE/RL reporters and use force against them.
"If I see you at the rallies, I will break one of you," Israilov said.
Most of the participants of the action covered their faces, avoided the camera, and refused to answer questions about their demands.
Fly responded by saying Radio Azattyk journalists will not be intimidated.
"I call on Kyrgyz authorities to investigate those responsible for these threats of violence against our staff and office," he said in a statement.
Israilov is known for his involvement in the organization 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.
SEE ALSO: U.S. Embassy Expresses 'Disappointment' Over Kyrgyz Powerbroker Release From CustodyMatraimov and his relatives at the time were at the center of an alleged corruption scandal. Matraimov was rearrested in February 2021 on corruption charges.
He was later released after a court in Bishkek convicted him on the charges but handed him a mitigated sentence that didn't involve incarceration because he had paid back around $24 million that disappeared through corruption schemes that he oversaw.