By decision of the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy of Kyrgyzstan, the Azattyk Media website was suspended for two months, the ministry announced.
The reason for making such a decision was the released story in the program “Current time. Asia” (subordinate structure of Azattyk Media, based in Bishkek).
According to the Ministry of Culture, the story titled “Heavy fighting on the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan” contains elements of hate speech, unconfirmed information about the alleged attack by the Kyrgyz side on Tajikistan, information that escalates the situation in society and causes hatred, discrimination and split among citizens when covering events in Batken region, Asianews reports.
Earlier it was reported that the Azattyk Media institution received a letter from the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy, in which the ministry required to delete from the YouTube channel of Current Time the above mentioned material within 24 hours. The letter, signed by Deputy Minister Soyuzbek Nadyrbekov, states that the material “aggravates the situation in society and undermines the image of the country.”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty President Jamie Fly made a statement about the situation around Azattyk and Current Time. He noted that RFE/RL takes its commitment to balanced reporting seriously.
“We have reviewed the content of this material and found no violation of our standards. We will not succumb to pressure to remove balanced content from our sites, whether it be from the Kremlin or the government of Kyrgyzstan,” Jamie Fly said.
Heavy combat clashes between the border troops of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan took place on September 14-17, 2022. Radio Azattyk covered these events from the scene of hostilities and aired the opinions of various people who saw the course of hostilities.
Photo: Asianews.info
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Oct. 27, 2022