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RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service

RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service is an award-winning, multimedia source of independent news and informed debate, covering major stories and underreported topics, including women, minority rights, high-level corruption, and religious radicalism.

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Also by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service

March 20, 2024
Another Member Of Kyrgyz Group That Protested Border Deal Transferred To House Arrest

A court in Bishkek on March 20 transferred to house arrest Kubanychbek Kadyrov, a member of a Kyrgyz group on trial for protesting a border deal with Uzbekistan.
March 20, 2024
Kyrgyz Activist Taken Into Custody 2 Days After Release

Kyrgyz activist Askat Jetigen has been sent to pretrial detention for at least two months while an investigation into his alleged calls for mass unrest continues.
March 20, 2024
Tunnel Found Under Kyrgyz-Uzbek Border Purportedly Used For Smuggling

Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said on March 20 it has discovered a tunnel along the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border that is purportedly being used for illegal border crossings and smuggling.
March 19, 2024
Kyrgyz Prosecutor Seeks Conviction Of Opposition Leader But No Sentence, Citing Statute Of Limitations

A Kyrgyz prosecutor on March 19 asked a Bishkek court to convict United Kyrgyzstan opposition party leader Adakhan Madumarov on all charges but not to sentence him due to the statute of limitations.
March 19, 2024
Reporters Without Borders Welcomes Kyrgyz Decision To Stop Blocking Of Kloop Website

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has welcomed a decision by a court in Bishkek to cancel a move by Kyrgyzstan's Culture Ministry to block the Russian-language website of the independent media outlet Kloop.
March 19, 2024
Kyrgyz Officials Acquitted In High-Profile Citizenship Case

A Bishkek court says it has acquitted the former chief of the presidential office, the former chief of the State Committee for National Security, and the former chief of the state commission on citizenship on charges of illegally granting Kyrgyz citizenship to 10 Turkish nationals.
March 18, 2024
Kyrgyz Court Annuls Ministry's Move To Block Independent Kloop Russian Website

A court in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, ruled to annul a move by the Central Asian nation's Culture Ministry to block the Russian-language website of the independent media outlet Kloop.
March 18, 2024
Kyrgyz Court Allows Jailed Politician To Get Medical Treatment Abroad

A court in Bishkek on March 18 allowed jailed politician Bektur Asanov to get back surgery in Turkey after his jailed co-defendants threatened to launch a hunger strike.
March 18, 2024
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan Agree On 11 More Kilometers Of Border

Kyrgyz officials said on March 17 that Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan agreed on roughly another 11 kilometers of the border between the two nations after special talks were held in the Tajik town of Buston last week.
March 18, 2024
Kyrgyz Activist Under Investigation After Airing Video Critical Of Government

A court in Bishkek on March 18 released activist and traditional bard singer Askat Jetigen but ordered him not to leave the country while an investigation into his alleged "calls for mass unrest" continues.
March 17, 2024
Thousands Join Navalny-Backed Anti-Putin Protests As Russians Vote

Thousands of Russians appeared to join an opposition call for protests by gathering at polling stations at midday local time, amid a presidential election engineered to deliver Vladimir Putin six more years in the Kremlin. Long lines of people formed in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and elsewhere.
March 14, 2024
CPJ Warns Of Growing 'Press Freedom Crisis' In Kyrgyzstan

The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Kyrgyz authorities to "immediately drop" charges against eight detained journalists from the Temirov Live investigative journalism group and warned of an "intensifying press-freedom crisis" in the country.
March 14, 2024
Hundreds In Kyrgyzstan (Again) Fall Victim To Pyramid Scheme

A pyramid scheme in Kyrgyzstan has led to hundreds of people losing large sums of money after they were promised they would earn big profits fast. Police say many people continue to put their money in such dubious scams despite official warnings and reports of previous fraudulent schemes.
March 13, 2024
Jailed Kyrgyz Border-Deal Protesters Criticize Judge For Trial Delays

Eleven jailed Kyrgyz activists who are on trial along with 16 others who are under house arrest for their 2022 protest against a Kyrgyz-Uzbek border delimitation deal accused Judge Marat Sydykov on March 13 of violating their rights by repeatedly postponing hearings.
March 12, 2024
Another Two Months: A Kyrgyz Court's Decision For 11 Journalists

A Kyrgyz court extended the pretrial detention of 11 journalists who were arrested on January 16 on a charge of "calling for mass riots." Three were moved to house arrest on March 12, while the other eight will remain in detention for another two months.
March 12, 2024
8 Of 11 Kyrgyz Journalists Sent To Pretrial Detention, Others Transferred To House Arrest

A Bishkek court on March 12 ordered eight of 11 reporters from the Temirov Live investigative group to pretrial detention until at least May 13 for allegedly calling for mass riots, a charge the journalists reject. Three journalists were transferred to house arrest.
March 12, 2024
Bishkek Court Issues Arrest Warrant For Russian Businessman Pavel Tyo

The Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security said a Bishkek court issued an arrest warrant for noted Russian businessman Pavel Tyo over alleged links with the late criminal kingpin Kamchybek Kolbaev (aka Asanbek), who was shot dead by police in a special operation in Bishkek in October.
March 11, 2024
Kyrgyz Villages Rally To Demand Release Of Border-Deal Protesters

Hundreds of residents in three villages in Kyrgyzstan have rallied to demand the immediate release of 11 politicians, journalists, and activists who are on trial along with 16 others who are under house arrest for their 2022 protest against a Kyrgyz-Uzbek border-delimitation deal.
March 08, 2024
'Our Voices Matter': Protesters Mark International Women's Day With Demands For Action

On International Women's Day, observed on March 8, demonstrators across many countries took to the streets to protest against domestic violence and call for justice. Women in Central Asia and the Balkans shared harrowing stories of abuse and spoke out for reproductive rights.
March 08, 2024
Activists, Domestic Violence Victims March In Bishkek Demanding Women's Rights Be Defended

Feminist activists and domestic violence survivors marched in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on March 8 to mark International Women's Day and to demand that women's rights be defended and respected.

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