The Kyrgyz government has suspended access to the website of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Kyrgyz Service, known locally as Radio Azattyk, after RFE/RL refused to take down a video of one of its news programs that reported on clashes at the border with Tajikistan, Radio Azattyk reported on October 26.
The Kyrgyz Ministry of Information said in a statement on October 26 that Radio Azattyk's website is being blocked for two months.
"The measure was undertaken as a response to unreliable materials that appeared in the nation's information space which contradict the national interests of the Kyrgyz Republic (inaccurate information about the events of September 14-17, 2022)," the ministry said.
The ministry earlier this week said in a letter to RFE/RL that government monitoring of articles by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service "has revealed that it [the video] has been biased in its coverage of the events on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, predominantly taking the position of the Tajik side."
The video in question was produced by Current Time, a Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
Radio Azattyk says while Kyrgyzstan is known for having a vibrant and pluralistic media environment compared to its Central Asian neighbors, human rights groups have warned that the climate for free expression has deteriorated since President Sadyr Japarov first came to power in October 2020.
In response, RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said that the broadcaster "takes our commitment to balanced reporting seriously" and that after a review of the content in question, "no violation of our standards" was found.
"We will not succumb to pressure to remove balanced reporting from our sites, be it from the Kremlin or the Kyrgyz government,” Fly said in a statement.
“Threatening journalists and trying to silence independent media are authoritarian tactics that only serve to undermine Kyrgyz democracy," he added. "We will be appealing this decision."
