Aftandil Zhorobekov

Affiliated media: Bespredel.kg , Blogger, Administrator, Activist

Incident date: December 8, 2023

Attack type:

• Confiscation/seizure of property, vehicles, equipment, documents

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: 24.kg

Location: Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek

Additional information:

On December 8, the Sverdlovsky District Court of Bishkek arrested blogger Aftandil Zhorobekov for two months. The blogger is accused of calling for active disobedience to the lawful demands of representatives of the authorities and mass riots (Part 3 of Article 278 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic). The arrest was preceded by a search during which computer equipment, smartphones, flash cards, and hard discs with information were seized. Aftandil Zhorobekov on his Facebook page spoke out against the parliamentary initiative to change the pattern on the national flag of Kyrgyzstan. The deputies considered that the picture «looks like a sunflower» and therefore it should be changed and have already passed the relevant law in the first reading. Earlier, the blogger initiated a car rally «Hands off the State Flag» and invited people to join his action for which he was twice summoned for interrogation by the State Committee for National Security.