A coalition of 10 human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Civil Rights Defenders, is urging Kyrgyz authorities to release two detained journalists from the independent outlet Kloop, a partner of OCCRP, and end what they call an escalating campaign of pressure against the media group.
The joint appeal follows a security sweep by the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) from May 28 to 30, during which eight current and former Kloop staff were detained.Â
Two of them—video operator Aleksander Aleksandrov and former contributor Joomart Duulatov—were placed in pretrial detention until July 21 following a closed court hearing. Both face charges of “public calls for mass unrest” under Article 278 of the Criminal Code, a provision widely criticized for its vague language and frequent use against dissenters.
As OCCRP reported last week, journalist Zyyagul Bolot kyzy was detained in Osh on May 28. That same day, Aleksandrov was arrested in Bishkek, followed by Aiday Erkebaeva and Zara Sadygalieva. All four were interrogated for hours without access to legal counsel before being released under gag orders.
On May 29, two more Kloop staff members—Abdil Torobaev, a 20-year-old not involved in reporting, and an administrative employee—were also detained and questioned without legal representation. Torobaev was released after several hours. The administrative worker was taken to Kloop’s technical office during a search, where equipment and financial documents were seized, then later released. A freelance accountant associated with the outlet was detained and questioned the following day.
The detentions come amid mounting government pressure on Kloop, which in 2024 was ordered liquidated by a court ruling that accused it of spreading false information. The outlet has continued to operate under a new legal entity. Its investigations—including the Plunder and Patronage series, which exposed high-level corruption in the customs sector—have drawn official scrutiny.
Authorities have not provided detailed explanations for the arrests. However, the SCNS released a video on social media showing several detainees expressing regret over their work with Kloop—raising concerns about possible coercion and rights violations during incommunicado detention. Lawyers were repeatedly denied access.
The crackdown is part of a broader pattern of media repression in Kyrgyzstan. In January 2024, 11 journalists from Temirov Live, another OCCRP partner, were arrested. Its director, Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy, received a six-year prison sentence; reporter Azamat Ishenbekov was sentenced to five but then pardoned. Authorities have tried to link Kloop staff to Temirov Live founder Bolot Temirov, who was expelled from the country in 2022.
Kyrgyzstan fell 24 places in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index and now ranks 144th globally. Rights groups warn that authorities are systematically dismantling press freedom and silencing critical voices.
“Such journalism plays a vital role in ensuring transparency and accountability. It is not a crime,” the joint letter stated, urging international actors—especially the European Union—to publicly oppose the crackdown and support embattled journalists.
