Kyrgyz Journalists: Better Protection Calls

The decision by the Kyrgyz authorities to block publication of a number of newspapers following opposition demonstrations in Bishkek led to an outcry about pressure on the media. But IWPR investigations reveal that journalists were suffering harassment some time before the April rally prompted the government to act against papers linked to the opposition.



Late on April 19, after police used tear gas to break up an opposition rally the authorities believed was getting out of hand on its ninth day, officials from the National Security Committee, GKNB, confiscated the print-runs of four newspapers – Agym, Kyrgyz Ruhu, Apta, and Aykyn – from the independent printing house that publishes them. They also took computer disks containing electronic copies of the papers’ editions.



Aynagul Saparbekkyzy, deputy editor of the Agym newspaper, told IWPR that the print-runs were confiscated on the orders of the prosecutor general. But chief prosecutor Elmurza Satybaldiev said he had not actually seen the relevant documentation so could not comment on the case.



Shamaral Maychiev, who is Kyrgyzstan’s Media Representative, a non-government position that functions as an ombudsman for the sector, said the GKNB’s actions contravened media legislation which requires a court order to have been issued prior to the seizure of journalistic material.



Medetbek Saliev, head of the GKNB’s investigations unit, tacitly admitted that there was no court order but refused to explain why the confiscation went ahead without it.



In the wake of the action against the papers, Ilim Karypbekov of Maychiev’s Media Representative office, last week urged the authorities to address the problem of increasing attacks on reporters.



“This lack of security [for journalists] doesn’t reflect well on the political situation. Such events tarnish Kyrgyzstan’s image in the international community, which assigns high importance to protecting human rights and freedom of speech,” he told IWPR.



A number of reporters suffered assaults during the April 11-19 rally, including Aziz Egemberdiev of the www.24.kg news agency, beaten up as he was phoning in a report to his editors. Film crews from the independent Kyrgyz television channel NTS and from Russia and Kazakstan had camera equipment broken by people in the crowd, suggesting that not all violence is attributable to the government.



A coalition of non-government groups subsequently asked the government to grant journalists special protected status so that they can be safe in such situations.



In the weeks running up to the April protests, three journalists were been beaten up in what are thought to have been politically motivated attacks.



On March 27, Daniyar Isanov, a news presenter with NTS, was attacked and beaten by four men in Bishkek, and had to be taken to hospital with severe facial injuries. His assailant made it clear the assault was because he was from NTS, which is sympathetic to the opposition.



Four days later, Talantbek Sopuev, who reports for an opposition TV station called September, was also hospitalised after being set upon by a group of about 40 people. The beating followed threats made to Sopuev after he produced a report critical of a pro-government rally in the southern city of Jalalabad.



Although there are clear dividing lines between independent and opposition media outlets and the state-owned media controlled by the administration of President Kurmanbek Bakiev, assaults on journalistic freedom are by no means confined to opponents of the regime.



The third attack involved a journalist with Kyrgyz state TV, Kayrat Birimkulov, who was assaulted by two men in Bishkek on March 16. The TV station had received threatening phone calls warning it to stop an investigation Birimkulov was leading into allegations of corruption in the state-owned Kyrgyz Railways.



Birimkulov remained defiant, saying, “I promise that as I soon as my health recovers, I will continue my project.”



These attacks prompted press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders to write to the Kyrgyz authorities in early April calling for an end to violence against journalists.



Tursunbek Akun, head of the presidential Human Rights Commission is overseeing investigations into the attacks on Sopuev, Birimkulov and Isanov, and he admits government officials are responsible for some acts of violence committed against journalists.



“There have been cases of assaults on journalists by state officials and criminal elements, and I condemn them categorically,” he said. “This treatment of media employees undermines the [reputation of ] the authorities in the international community.”



Akun pointed to areas of progress, for example proposals to scrap articles of the criminal code which make libel and insulting officials criminal offences. The changes have yet to be passed by parliament.



“I believe this is the first step towards protecting journalists,” he said.



According to Marat Tokoev, the head of the non-government Public Association of Journalists, recent attacks on journalists are connected with the increasing political tensions in Kyrgyzstan, which culminated in the April opposition rally.



“Society has become extremely politicised, and people have started to divide the media into good and bad,” he told IWPR.



Alisher Mamasaliev, head of another non-government group called Civic Platform, is concerned that so many journalists have been attacked in such a short space of time.



“The regime is unable to ensure protection or adequate redress for media employees,” he said. “Freedom of speech and the right of access to information have become a life-threatening affair in our society.”



Kyrgyz interior minister Bolotbek Nogoibaev rejects calls to grant special treatment to journalists, saying the protections already in place are adequate.



In the present turbulent environment, he said, “not only media employees but also ordinary people get attacked. I don’t think we should focus attention solely on journalists - all citizens have equal rights…. If we start protecting journalists today, then doctors, teachers and aircraft pilots will put forward similar demands in the future.”



Nogoibaev suggested that some reporters try to exploit attacks on them to get publicity. In such cases, he said, “Our [police] staff usually reach the conclusion that it was a coincidence, but journalists use it as PR to draw attention to themselves.”



The president of the Foundation For International Tolerance, Raya Kadyrova, disagrees, arguing that journalists constitute a special case who need particular protections.



“We have law-enforcement agencies, courts, the [human rights] ombudsman and the State Secretary, all of which have a remit that includes working with the media,” she said. “These institutions should shoulder the responsibility for what happens to journalists.”



Some assaults on journalists have less to do with politics than with the power of organised crime groups, which have become bolder and more influential in the two years since President Bakiev came to power.



In February, Elena Ageeva, correspondent for the newspaper MK-World Weekly-Kyrgyzstan was forced to abandon an investigation into the arrest of a man called Abubakry Sabirov. A known gangland figure is alleged to have close ties to the investigators holding Sabirov, leading to suspicions that he was wrongfully arrested.



Ageeva said that the criminal involved threatened to kill her, and that she also received several anonymous phone calls saying that the caller knew her address and where her child went to school. These threats led the newspaper to scrap the investigation. Sabirov’s father Sabyrjan subsequently died after setting himself on fire as a protest against the authorities’ refusal to review the case.



Elena Voronina, the head of the non-government Interbilim group, says journalists could do more to help themselves if they were not so divided.



“I think that our journalists lack solidarity, and so they are subject to persecution,” she said.



In her view, it is not always clear who is behind such attacks, so journalists need to be more open about threats or violence directed against them.



“Any profession, including journalism, should be transparent,” she said.



Voronina thinks journalists could also help themselves by ensuring they remain objective and avoid taking sides in the political confrontation.



“In my opinion, the media should aim for the golden mean, and not serve the interests of certain political groups,” she said.



Mamasaliev agrees that solidarity among journalists – whatever the political stance of their employer – is crucial to defending their position.



“Any pressure on a media employee should be a signal to all journalists to mobilise for an immediate response, and there should be no divisions into state-run or independent media,” he said.



Jipara Abdrakhmanova is an IWPR contributor. IWPR’s News Briefing Central Asia agency provided additional reporting.