Aizada Kasmaliyeva

Affiliated media: Azattyk Media, Head

Incident date: July 5, 2022

Attack type:

• Interrogation

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Radio Azattyk

Location: Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek

Additional information:

The head of Azattyk Media was questioned twice by law enforcement agencies in Bishkek — on July 5 and 7. The investigator Tilek Mamytov asked a number of questions about several news stories published on the Radio Azattyk website and inquired about the sources of information. Moreover, she was given a letter with a request «to provide information about the sources of information and reliability of information» on several previously published materials. According to the investigator, the opposition politician Ravshan Dzheyenbekov in his Facebook post relied on information published in some media, including the Radio Azattyk website. Earlier, on July 1, the politician was detained for several hours over a publication where he wrote that the authorities «intend to increase» the country’s foreign debt. This information was later denied by the Ministry of Finance, noting that it was «fundamentally inaccurate» and «misleading for the public».