Kyrgyz Prosecutor Attacks Media “Distortions”

Journalists and human rights activists fear freedom of speech is under threat in Kyrgyzstan after a call from country’s new chief prosecutor for a media crackdown.



Prosecutor Kambaraly Kongantiev told a meeting of the Kyrgyz Security Council attended by President Kurmanbek Bakiev that the government should move against media outlets “which inflame passions and destabilise the situation in the country”.



“In their search for sensations, journalists distort the facts, and cause a stir and completely unjustified passions in society,” said Kongantiev at the November 21 meeting. “This puts emotional pressure on people’s psyche.”



He appeared to be referring to the dramatic November 11 protest during which Asan Erkinbaev, the brother of murdered deputy Bayaman Erkinbaev, set himself on fire in full view of television cameras. Erkinbaev’s Jalalabad protest was subsequently broadcast around the country.



The NGO Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society reacted with concern, saying in a statement that Kongantiev’s proposal is “an infringement of freedom of speech and an attempt to shift responsibility for the tense situation in society to journalists who are simply carrying out their professional duties”.



Human rights activist Aziza Abdirasulova is also worried, telling IWPR, “In Kyrgyzstan, all we have is freedom of speech - and they will take that away from us too. The task of the authorities is to make sure there are no ‘horrible pictures’, which is what the prosecutor has in mind.”



Newspaper editor Venera Jamankulova, meanwhile, believes that “any attacks on the media, however noble the pretext, are a step back from democratic principles. The people should know about everything that is happening in the country”.



Others are less alarmed, suggesting that Kongantiev - who as a parliamentary deputy also proposed a controversial year-long moratorium on public protests - is simply trying to make his mark in a new job.



He recently replaced Kyrgyzstan's crusading chief prosecutor Azimbek Beknazarov who some believe was removed because his investigations into corrupt officials were too successful.



“The speech by the prosecutor general... does not pose any threat,” said independent journalist Dinar Akmatbekova. “Every person who is appointed to a new position tries to make bombastic statements. This cannot be taken seriously.”



The head of the journalists’ union, Kuban Mambetaliev, said Kongantiev has found few supporters at the Security Council. However, he and others worry that the prosecutor’s remarks may cause some to look back with a certain nostalgia to Soviet days, when media was strictly controlled.



“What he said is completely absurd. Nevertheless, there are concerns that the prosecutor’s proposals may lead to retrograde tendencies in the country if they are implemented,” said Mambetaliev.



The editor of the newspaper Delo №, Viktor Zapolsky, added, “A person with a chronic Soviet mindset who is incapable of finding his bearings in the complexities of the current situation, resorts to Bolshevik methods of prohibition and removal. Removing the problem, rather than solving it.”



Media watchers point out this may already be happening in Kyrgyzstan, saying the television programme Zloye Pero (“the malicious pen”) was controversially pulled from the Kyrgyz airwaves on November 22. The offending programme dealt with the search for a national identity and a strategy for the country’s development.



Internews, the media development organisation which produces the programme, said the management of the national television channel received a phone call from a Kyrgyz government official ordering transmission to be stopped. The station denies that claim, saying the show violated the country’s media laws.



Yrys Omurzakov, editor of the newspaper Tribuna, believes he has already felt the affects of the more repressive media environment in Kyrgyzstan, said he recently lost a libel case brought against him by the head of the Federation of Trade Unions, Sagynbek Bozgunbaev. He has now been told by his lawyer that he faces criminal charges.



“Placing certain restrictions on freedom means going against the requirements of democracy. This will play into the hands of officials at the interior ministry and prosecutor’s office who have scores to settle with certain journalists,” said Omurzakov, who has twice been convicted of making critical statements against the Akaev regime. He has also been jailed.



Some observers, however, believe that journalists must be more accountable for the way they cover the news, and that existing media legislation should be reviewed.



“Journalists need to be more responsible,” said Bishkek resident Omurbek Jangaraev. “I have taken them to court three times, and each time I won the case. Once they wrote about my younger son, calling him a ‘boy from an orphanage who since childhood has not known fatherly and motherly kindness’.”



Psychologist Asel Moidunova points out that reporters who distort the truth in their stories can do great harm. “They really do have a negative psychological effect on people,” she said.



Bishkek’s head psychiatrist, Kenesh Usenov, also appealed to journalists to show restraint when broadcasting upsetting images like those of Erkinbaev on fire.



“By showing shocking footage ... over and over again, the media takes on the moral responsibility for possible copycat acts,” said Usenov.



Lawyer Svetlana Shevchenko believes tougher media legislation is the answer, though admits achieving a balance between encouraging responsible journalism and censorship could be difficult.



“A law is now required which stipulates fines and punishments for journalists for publishing [false information] on legal issues. Frequently a sentence has not yet been given on a criminal case, but journalists are already calling the accused a murderer or criminal.



“On the other hand, the regime must not violate the constitutional principle of freedom of speech.”



Astra Sadybakasova is a correspondent for the newspaper Argumenty i Fakty in Kyrgyzstan.