Latest news with #AigerimTurgunbaeva
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Kyrgyzstan detains eight media workers in widening crackdown
By Aigerim Turgunbaeva BISHKEK (Reuters) -National security authorities in Kyrgyzstan have detained eight current and former employees of independent media outlet Kloop, their lawyers said, accusing them of inciting unrest amid a growing crackdown on media in the Central Asian country. Five journalists from Kloop - known for its anti-corruption reporting - were arrested on Wednesday after authorities raided their homes and seized their electronic devices, lawyers for the people said. A further three people were arrested on Thursday. They face charges of calling for mass unrest and disobeying government officials, which can incur up to 10 years in prison. Daiyrbek Orunbekov, the head of the presidential administration, wrote on social media that the media workers had "spread false information" and had published material "directed against the state". A spokesman for the national security body declined comment. Rinat Tukhvatshin, a co-founder of Kloop, said the government's claims were fabricated. Syinat Sultanalieva, a Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, condemned the detentions as "yet another example of the Kyrgyzstani authorities' continued crackdown on freedom of speech and expression". Several of the people were released after hours of interrogation, while some are still in custody with no access to their lawyers. Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic, has historically enjoyed greater media freedom than its Central Asian neighbours. However, under President Sadyr Japarov, who came to power in 2020, the government enacted a law prohibiting media and individuals from "discrediting" the authorities, providing a tool to suppress dissent. Kloop, an independent outlet founded in 2007, was forced to shutter last year after state prosecutors filed a lawsuit arguing that its NGO publisher, Kloop Media, was not properly registered as a media organisation.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kyrgyzstan detains Russian government agency worker accused of recruiting fighters for Ukraine war
By Aigerim Turgunbaeva BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyz security services have detained four people, including an employee of a Russian government agency, on suspicion of recruiting Kyrgyz citizens to fight in the Russian army, officials said on Wednesday. Kyrgyzstan's domestic security agency told Reuters the detainees included an employee of Rossotrudnichestvo, a Russian agency for cultural exchange, in Kyrgyzstan's second city of Osh, as well as an employee of Osh city hall's press service. In a statement on Telegram, Rossotrudnichestvo's Russian House cultural centre in Osh said that its activities were all legal. It said it was "anxious" for the fate of the detained employee, Natalia Serekina, who it said was a citizen of Kyrgyzstan. The suspects are being held under charges related to recruiting and supporting mercenaries for participation in armed conflicts abroad. A court in the country's capital, Bishkek, charged the four suspects with mercenary activity, and placed them in pre-trial detention until June 17. Hundreds of Central Asian nationals, principally from Kyrgzystan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, are believed to have enlisted in the Russian forces fighting in Ukraine. Moscow offers high salaries and Russian citizenship to foreigners who sign up, an offer which has drawn takers from as far afield as Cuba, Nepal and India. Several of these countries have asked Moscow to stop recruiting their citizens, and send serving soldiers home. Kyrgyzstan has maintained its traditional alignment with Russia throughout the more than three-year war in Ukraine, even as Kyrgyz authorities have prosecuted citizens for joining the Russian army. The mountainous and mostly Muslim country of 7 million is heavily economically dependent on Russia, where many of its nationals migrate for work, and hosts several Russian military bases.
The Star
23-04-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Kyrgyzstan detains Russian government agency worker accused of recruiting fighters for Ukraine war
BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyz security services have detained four people, including an employee of a Russian government agency, on suspicion of recruiting Kyrgyz citizens to fight in the Russian army, officials said on Wednesday. Kyrgyzstan's domestic security agency told Reuters the detainees included an employee of Rossotrudnichestvo, a Russian agency for cultural exchange, in Kyrgyzstan's second city of Osh, as well as an employee of Osh city hall's press service. In a statement on Telegram, Rossotrudnichestvo's Russian House cultural centre in Osh said that its activities were all legal. It said it was "anxious" for the fate of the detained employee, Natalia Serekina, who it said was a citizen of Kyrgyzstan. The suspects are being held under charges related to recruiting and supporting mercenaries for participation in armed conflicts abroad. A court in the country's capital, Bishkek, charged the four suspects with mercenary activity, and placed them in pre-trial detention until June 17. Hundreds of Central Asian nationals, principally from Kyrgzystan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, are believed to have enlisted in the Russian forces fighting in Ukraine. Moscow offers high salaries and Russian citizenship to foreigners who sign up, an offer which has drawn takers from as far afield as Cuba, Nepal and India. Several of these countries have asked Moscow to stop recruiting their citizens, and send serving soldiers home. Kyrgyzstan has maintained its traditional alignment with Russia throughout the more than three-year war in Ukraine, even as Kyrgyz authorities have prosecuted citizens for joining the Russian army. The mountainous and mostly Muslim country of 7 million is heavily economically dependent on Russia, where many of its nationals migrate for work, and hosts several Russian military bases. (Reporting by Aigerim Turgunbaeva in Bishkek, Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Alison Williams)
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kyrgyz leader Japarov gets parliament to reset election date
By Aigerim Turgunbaeva BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan's President Sadyr Japarov has persuaded parliament to push back the date of the next election by several months, in an indication he may be turning his thoughts towards running for a second term. At Japarov's request, lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill to hold the next presidential vote on January 24, 2027, instead of October 18, 2026. This would ensure he serves the full six years of his mandate, which analysts said suggested he was thinking about extending his presidency. If he ran again and won, Japarov, 56, would be the first Kyrgyz president in two decades to secure a second term. Since long-serving ruler Askar Akayev was toppled in 2005, two other presidents, including Japarov's immediate predecessor, have been ousted in revolutions. "He hasn't said it himself yet, but both by law and by the state of affairs in the country, it would probably make sense for him to run for a second term. Some of his team have said he's expected to do this," political scientist Emil Juraev told Reuters. Japarov, who as an opposition politician was jailed between 2017 and 2020, swept to power that year on the back of protests against alleged fraud in a parliamentary election. He won a snap presidential election in January 2021. The nationalist politician has brought Kyrgyzstan's once chaotic political scene under his firm control, including through populist moves like the 2021 nationalisation of the Kumtor gold mine, one of Central Asia's largest. This year he signed a border deal to end a conflict with neighbouring Tajikistan. Traditionally the most democratic of the five Central Asian states that emerged from the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan has in recent years become more aligned with its authoritarian neighbours. Under Japarov, Kyrgyzstan has introduced a law against so-called "foreign agents" along the lines of Russian legislation, whilst also shuttering several independent media outlets. Parliament - to which elections are due in November - is dominated by parties loyal to the president. The mostly Muslim country of 7 million people has close ties with Russia, where many of its citizens migrate for work. It also hosts several Russian military bases. Since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, trade data show that Kyrgyzstan has become a key backdoor route for goods from the European Union to enter Russia, bypassing sanctions against Moscow. Kyrgyz lender Keremet Bank was placed under U.S. sanctions in January. Analysts say Kyrgyzstan is also a major conduit for Chinese products such as ball bearings, which have both civilian and military uses, to enter Russia.
