Zhoodar Buzumov

Affiliated media: YouTube channel Temirov Live, Journalist

Incident date: January 16, 2024

Attack type:

• Administrative arrest, remand, pre-trial detention, prison

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Аzattyk.org

Location: Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek

Additional information:

On January 16, Zhoodar Buzumov was detained and arrested together with other journalists of the Temirov Live team. His flat was searched. On January 17, the Pervomaysky District Court of Bishkek arrested the journalists for two months. The journalist was preparing the Kyrgyz-language version of investigative reports on the media project’s YouTube channel. Like other members of the Temirov Live team, the journalist is charged under Article 278 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic (calls for mass riots), which provides for up to 8 years in prison. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the reason for the case was one of the episodes of Temirov Live in December 2023, where experts found signs of calls for mass riots. However, the founder of Temirov Live Bolot Temirov links the mass arrests of journalists to recent investigations into the assets and wealth of the Minister of Internal Affairs Ulan Niyazbekov and his relatives.