Is Kyrgystan turning into an authoritarian country?

In Kyrgyzstan, independent journalism is becoming a rarity. On January 16, Aike Beishekeyeva was arrested for “inciting mass unrest”, alongside ten journalists and activists.

All are or have been employed by Temirov Live, a media outlet whose video investigations have lifted the veil on the corruption of the ruling elites of this Central Asian country, from the president’s son to the head of the secret service. Detainees face years in prison if convicted.

The facts

According to observers, this wave of arrests is part of a campaign of intimidation directed against journalist Bolot Temirov, creator of the eponymous media outlet. The 44-year-old man has already paid dearly for his investigations and virulent criticism of the government. In recent years, he has been beaten, wiretapped by the secret service, deprived of his citizenship and deported to Russia.

Now working from an undisclosed location in Europe, Temirov broadcasted an incessant stream of videos and messages on social networks to denounce the impunity of the authorities and demand that they release his colleagues. His wife was warned that their 11-year-old son could be placed in an orphanage if she did not cooperate with the law.

The Kyrgyz authorities refuse to comment on the matter. President Sadyr Japarov declared that in this turbulent period, freedom of expression is closely linked to responsibility, so the country must take preventive measures.

The arguments

To justify the recent wave of arrests, the Kyrgyz authorities have presented only one proof: a video published in December 2023 on Ait Ait Dese, a YouTube channel of the Temirov galaxy, which allegedly contains “calls for mass unrest”. In this video, the journalist’s wife, Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy, angrily denounces corruption and the authorities “in place for thirty years”.

She says that all coups and revolutions are useless, because one clan only replaces another. With the exception of his wife, none of the people detained have any connection with this video. Six of them are no longer even employed by Temirov Live.

The attack on the Terimov Live team comes against a backdrop of growing democratic unease in Kyrgyzstan. The country, often referred to as a “democratic island,” was once the freest of Central Asia’s former Soviet republics. Although known for its frequent revolutions – it has experienced three since its independence in 1991 – the country has long also organized real elections, had a vigorous media scene and civil society, including feminist groups and disability rights advocates.

However, the grip has tightened in recent years under the leadership of a president who combines populist rhetoric with methods of control reminiscent of Putin’s Russia. Everyone fears being the next target, especially since situations sometimes border on the absurd.

So, when the independent media outlet Kloop was shut down by court order in February, prosecutors summoned psychiatrists to demonstrate that the outlet was “affecting people’s mental health” by “disturbing” them with negative information. In the Reporters Without Borders world press freedom ranking, Kyrgyzstan lost 50 places in one year, placing itself in 122^nd place out of 180 in 2023.

Critics say there are no institutions to carry out democratization, there are no real political parties, no ideologies. Without this, lasting changes cannot be expected.

It was a popular uprising that brought the current leaders of Kyrgyzstan to power. In October 2020, people took to the streets to protest against the results of an election perceived as rigged and against the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the chaos, Sadyr Japarov was released from prison where he had been serving a ten-year sentence for kidnapping.

The populist politician immediately took charge of the government, before being elected president a few weeks later. In tandem with his ally Kamtchybek Tashiev, placed at the head of a secret service with growing influence, Japarov has continued to strengthen his hold on the country.

Wielding nationalist rhetoric at will, claiming to represent ordinary Kyrgyz citizens in the face of a demonized foreign influence, the head of state had a series of repressive laws adopted on disinformation, the media, the associative sector and “foreign agents”.