On January 15, security officers in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, detained Asel Otorbaeva, the director-general of the 24.kg news website, and chief editor Makhinur Niyazova, RFE/RL Kazakh Service reported. Anton Lymar, one of the editors, was also detained. The detentions followed a search of the independent media outlet’s offices.
Niyazova, while being forced into a police car, linked the searches and detentions to an investigation into an article about Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. However, 24.kg’s lawyer, Nurbek Sadykov, stated that there was no official information about what exactly the State Committee for National Security (UKMK) was investigating.
Seizure of equipment and sealing of offices
RFE/RL correspondents reported that security officers confiscated computers, laptops, printers, and other devices from the 24.kg offices. The offices were sealed after the officers left the premises. Sadykov mentioned that the security officers did not allow him and the website’s other lawyers to be inside the offices during the searches.
UKMK’s statement on incident
The UKMK, in a statement released hours later, linked the searches and detentions to a probe on "propagating a war". However, no further details were provided.
International reaction
The Brussels-based International Partnership for Human Rights described the searches at 24.kg and the detention of its staff members as a "worrying development".
About 24.kg
Founded in 2006, 24.kg is one of Kyrgyzstan’s first online newspapers. In September 2023, the 24.kg website was blocked in Russia over four of its reports about the war in Ukraine published in October 2022. The reports covered Russian strikes targeting Ukrainian towns and cities, casualties among Ukrainian civilians, European sanctions imposed on Russia over its full-scale aggression against Ukraine, and the mobilization of Russians to the armed forces announced in September 2022.
Wider context
Follow Daryo's official Instagram and Twitter pages to keep current on world news.
Comments (0)