Kyrgyz Libel Case Raises Protests

The handling of a libel suit against a major newspaper in Kyrgyzstan has led to accusations that the authorities are mounting an orchestrated attack on press freedom.



While officials deny any intention to curb the media, their critics argue that the use of criminal defamation law against the popular De Facto paper smacks of political repression.



Cholpon Orozbekova, editor-in-chief of De Facto, is accused of publishing false accusations against Taalaybek Dalbaev, the chief tax inspector for the capital Bishkek.



Unlike many countries, libel can be dealt with as a criminal offence in Kyrgyzstan. The case against Orozbekova is being handled by the police rather than civil litigators and she could face five years in prison if convicted.



The police raided De Facto’s offices in Bishkek on June 14, taking away computers. The following day, a district-level court in the city ordered the seizure of the newspaper’s bank account and all other assets. The two actions effectively stopped the newspaper from functioning.



“Since our account has been seized we’ve been in a very tough situation,” Orozbekova told IWPR. “We can’t pay salaries or holiday pay to the paper’s 12 staff members. Because of the investigators’ actions, the interrogations, and the tense atmosphere surrounding De Facto, staff have been forced to go on leave until August 20.”



The case began with the June 12 publication of an open letter to the Kyrgyz authorities in which the author, Zamira Moldoeva, accused the tax official of serious financial misdemeanours. The next day, prosecutor Dalbaev filed a complaint with city prosecutors, who in turn launched a criminal action.



In an official statement from the prosecutor’s office said, “An initial investigation shows that the points set out in the statement [Moldoeva’s letter] are incorrect; in other words that they are deliberate falsehoods designed to accuse Dalbaev of serious crimes.”



It is not only De Facto that is in trouble – Kachkyn Bulatov, a human rights activist who helped Moldoeva edit her letter, was arrested on July 2 after admitting as much in a press interview. He was released after two days, but told not to leave the country.



Orozbekova says the libel case is only the culmination of mounting pressure from the Kyrgyz authorities over the last six month.



“Recently, we lost a court case brought by President [Kurmanbek] Bakiev’s nephew for one million soms [27,000 US dollars], and now we have this police search and the criminal case which have left De Facto with no computers,” she said.



On June 4, a court in Bishkek fined De Facto and another paper Alibi damages of one million soms each, in a lawsuit brought by Asylbek Saliev.



“There’s definitively a political motive here,” said Orozbekova. “The authorities have decided not to confine themselves to a million soms; they want to shut down the only opposition newspaper.”



In addition to legal action, she says, she has had to contend with a rising number of anonymous phone threats.



“An unidentified male voice warned me that I’d face serious problems if I didn’t leave the newspaper. The previous time, they used obscene language and asked me why I wouldn’t shut up,” she said.



De Facto has only existed for one year, but it has already become the country’s most popular Kyrgyz-language newspaper, with a weekly circulation of 25,000. Many media-watchers believe the paper’s popularity and critical stance have led the authorities to seize on any opportunity to close it down.



“The decision to bring a criminal prosecution against the newspaper instead of a civil suit, the freezing of its accounts, the threats received by its editor and the speed with which the judicial authorities acted are all disproportionate and suggest that the real aim is to force De Facto to close,” the international media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.



The Interbilim Centre, a local group which works to strengthen non-government organisations, also issued a statement condemning the action and accusing the authorities of preventing journalists from reporting freely.



Interbilim said the libel prosecution, coupled with the earlier lawsuit brought against De Facto and another paper, Alibi, and recent legal amendments which effectively stymied plans for broadcasting reform, all added up to a concerted attack on freedom of information.



Dinara Oshurakhunova, leader of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, believes the authorities want to shut off the flow of information from independent sources.



“The launch of criminal proceedings… is political persecution that has undoubtedly been sanctioned in order to destroy the free press and intimidate journalists,” she said.



The Kyrgyz authorities strenuously deny any intention to close De Facto down.



“No one is planning to eliminate the newspaper at all,” President Bakiev’s spokesman Nurlan Shakiev told IWPR. “I read this newspaper myself and I’m aware it has many thousands of readers. No one is going to close it.”



At the same time as expressing “deep regret” at the situation De Facto found itself in, Shakiev said the paper was largely to blame for its own problems.



“The newspaper should have published material that was not erroneous and that strove for the truth. I’ve told the newspaper about this, and now it is for the law enforcement agencies to resolve the matter,” he said.



Kyrgyzstan’s human rights ombudsman Tursunbek Akun said that while De Facto should not make unsubstantiated allegations against officials, “it is wrong to open a criminal case and persecute the newspaper for such reasons. Anyone who disagrees with an article can go to court and resolve matters by that route, without punitive action.”



Akun said the case raises worrying questions about press freedom.



“The fact that they took away equipment, opened a criminal case, and seized the newspaper’s account is a very grave violation of the law and an encroachment on freedom of speech,” he said.



Media expert Ilim Karypbekov also argues that the authorities should not apply criminal legislation to cases where plaintiffs can bring civil lawsuits.



“I believe it was wrong to launch a criminal case under the ‘deliberately false accusation’ clause. It’s also dangerous as it could set a bad precedent for a broader trend,” he said.



Facing legal problems and an enforced break in producing De Facto, Orozbekova is determined to carry on.



“Despite the threats and problems, the newspaper’s staff have taken these developments stoically,” she said. “We are united, and nobody is planning to resign.”



Yrys Kydykeev is a pseudonym of an independent journalist in Bishkek.