After serving less than two years of his 11-year sentence for corruption, former President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev was released and left on Wednesday to Spain for medical treatment although there are still outstanding charges against him.

Kyrgyz authorities have ordered independent media outlet Kloop to delete a news article they allege to contain false information or face having their website blocked. The threat comes in the context of a broader attack on independent media in Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyz authorities asked a court on Monday to permanently ban Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, from the country because the outlet’s description of the Kyrgyz-Tajik conflict is not in line with the government’s narrative.

A Kyrgyz investigative journalist who has published stories about high-level corruption in the country was apparently deported today, minutes after a court ruled against him.

On October 26, Kyrgyz authorities blocked the website of Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, for a period of two months. The reason was a story about new clashes on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, in which dozens of people died and thousands were forced to temporarily evacuate. Two days ago, Azattyk’s bank accounts were also frozen without clear explanation — by order of the Kyrgyz secret police, Azattyk’s management learned.

A Radio Azattyk reporter covers a protest against corruption in the Kyrgyz customs service in Bishkek in December 2019. (Photo: Gulzhan Turdubayeva/Radio Azattyk)

Kyrgyz authorities have blocked on Wednesday access to the website of the local branch of Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) after the outlet aired a video about the border conflict with Tajikistan that the Kyrgyz Ministry of Culture claims contains fake news and contradicts national interest.

About 300 people marched on Monday through Kyrgyzstan’s capital of Bishkek, demanding the release of activists who protested against a land swap with Uzbekistan in which Kyrgyzstan lost a man-made lake in return for land elsewhere along the undefined border, OCCRP member center Kloop reported.

In Bishkek today, Kyrgyz investigative journalist Bolot Temirov, who faced up to 20 years in prison on a series of charges, was acquitted on most of them.

The government’s initial silence about the export of a record amount of gold to an undisclosed client last year raised eyebrows these days in Kyrgyzstan, where the gold mining industry has been shrouded in secrecy and the largest mine is rumored to be rife with corruption.

Kyrgyzstan’s government, long known as Central Asia’s most democratic, is becoming less and less transparent — and the country’s once-active civil society appears unconcerned.

(Photo: Alina Pechenkina for Kloop)

Kyrgyz police have questioned two editors from independent media outlets after a former opposition lawmaker quoted their sites in his Facebook post about the government’s intention to increase the country’s foreign debt.

Kyrgyz authorities allege Bolot Temirov is a drug user and used falsified identification documents. But case files obtained by reporters suggest a high-level effort led by the GKNB security agency to silence him.

Kyrgyz special forces detained the country’s Health Minister Alymkadyr Beishenaliev on Thursday for wasting public money on 2.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines that were completely unnecessary.

When Kyrgyz police stormed the office of investigative journalism outlet Temirov LIVE on January 22 and arrested chief editor Bolot Temirov on drug charges, it sounded the alarm about press freedom in Kyrgyzstan.

First someone bugged Bolot Temirov’s apartment. Then police raided his office and allegedly planted drugs on him.

Now, Kyrgyz law enforcement has gone even farther: On May 17, the journalist announced that the interior ministry had declared his passport invalid, potentially stripping him of his Kyrgyz citizenship.

Initially, museum administrators said that only a few worthless objects had been lost. Then, in an earlier investigation, OCCRP and Kloop found dozens more. New documents show the true number is in the many hundreds — and officials still aren’t talking.

Kyrgyzstan’s National Historical Museum (Photo: Azat Ruziev/Kloop)

Kyrgyz authorities accused investigative journalist Bolot Temirov on Tuesday of forging documents and illegally crossing state borders after the news outlet he leads published a story about the son of a high-ranking official winning state contracts.

The Kyrgyz presidency is expected to propose new and amended laws that will allow citizens to legalize their illegally obtained assets. Opponents claim that the proposed draft legalizes corruption.

Tightening the noose on independent media, the Kyrgyzstan government proposed on Monday a new procedure that would allow the regime to block websites accused by anyone of spreading fake news, even in cases where no evidence is provided.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is deeply concerned by the Kyrgyz government’s mounting assault on press freedom.

Credit: James O'Brien / NEXT TV / Tatarstan.ru