Kyrgyzstan Court Bans Activities of 'Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty'

Today, a court in Bishkek has decided to ban the activities of the Kyrgyz service of the media corporation 'Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty' in Kyrgyzstan. This decision was made in response to a request from the country’s Ministry of Culture. The ruling comes after the blocking of the Kyrgyz and Russian language Radio 'Azattyk' websites last October.

Previously, 'Radio Free Europe' had refused to remove footage of lethal clashes at the Kyrgyz-Tajik border from their websites. Jamie Fly, the president of the media corporation, has called the ruling 'outrageous.'

The Ministry of Culture argued that the video content presented by the media corporation unfairly highlighted the position of the Tajik side. The leadership of the news corporation has considered the actions of the Bishkek authorities as a crackdown on free media, undermining democracy in Kyrgyzstan.