Kyrgyzstan: Authorities Accuse Former Kloop Staff of Inciting Unrest

Authorities in Kyrgyzstan view certain media publications as a threat calling for regime change, Orda.kz reports.

A trial has begun in Bishkek against four former employees of the independent outlet Kloop. On August 5, the Pervomaisky District Court held its first hearing in the case, in which former camera operators Alexander Alexandrov and Zhoomart Duulatov, as well as two of the newsroom’s accountants, are charged with calling for mass unrest.

Investigators allege that Kloop’s publications, supposedly produced in collaboration with Temirov Live, “distorted information” and had “a negative tone toward the authorities,” which, according to a linguistic examination, could be considered incitement to violence. 

Prosecutors claim the materials contained signs of “calls to change the government.”

Defense lawyers petitioned for the defendants to be placed under house arrest, noting that Alexandrov alone earns income in his family and is paying off a loan. The judge denied the motion, and all four remain in custody.

As previously reported, searches and detentions of current and former Kloop staff took place on May 28–29 in Kyrgyzstan. Seven people were detained, including Alexandrov and former employee Duulatov, who were held in a temporary detention center. The others were released.

International human rights groups have called the actions politically motivated persecution of an independent media outlet.

During the searches of Alexandrov’s and Duulatov’s homes, equipment was seized, and the defendants were taken to the State Committee for National Security without access to lawyers. The court ordered them held in pre-trial detention until July 21, a decision later upheld on appeal.

For a time, lawyers were also unable to see Alexandrov, with the detention facility citing renovations.

In late July, bank accounts of four current Kloop employees were frozen. The outlet believes this is directly connected to the ongoing criminal case against its newsroom.

Original Author: Ruslan Loginov