Kyrgyzstan: End renewed crackdown on independent Kloop media platform

Civil Rights Defenders and other organisations are deeply alarmed by the renewed crackdown on Kloop, a leading independent Kyrgyzstani media platform known for investigating and reporting on corruption, abuse of power, and human rights violations. In a sweeping security service operation between 28 and 30 May, the authorities arbitrarily detained current and former Kloop staff in a clear attempt to intimidate and stifle the platform’s investigative reporting, further undermining the country’s deteriorating space for dissent and independent journalism and threatening the rule of law.

We call on Kyrgyzstan’s authorities to immediately halt the intimidation and harassment of Kloop and its staff, release the platform’s contributors who are still in detention, and uphold their international obligations to protect media workers and safeguard press freedom. We also urge Kyrgyzstan’s international partners—in particular the European Union—to take a firm public stance demanding an end to the dismantling of independent journalism in the country.

Eight staff members detained

Officials from the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) detained at least eight current and former Kloop employees—both journalists and non-editorial staff. They are: Aleksander Aleksandrov, Joomart Duulatov, Ziyagul Bolot kyzy, Aiday Erkebaeva, Zara Sadygalieva, Abdil Torobaev, Symbat Baimurzaeva as well as an accountant, who requested to remain anonymous. Two others, friends of Kloop contributors, were arbitrarily detained at the same time because they happened to be present when the arrests took place.

As reported by Kloop, SCNS officials failed to explain the reasons for the detentions, and searched the homes of media workers—confiscating computers, cameras, equipment for live broadcasting, and phones—without presenting search warrants. They also seized documentation and equipment from Kloop premises. They interrogated the detained Kloop contributors for several hours without allowing access to legal counsel and did not allow them to contact their families or colleagues. Lawyers representing those detained described these actions as flagrant violations of due process.

Most of those detained, including the two friends of Kloop contributors, were eventually released after lengthy questioning. Classified as witnesses, they were placed under gag orders preventing them from speaking about their experiences.

Potentially facing lengthy prison sentences

However, following a closed court hearing on 30 May, Kloop’s video operator Aleksander Aleksandrov and former contributor Joomart Duulatov were remanded in pre-trial detention until 21 July, pending further investigation. They will be held in the SCNS pre-trial detention in Bishkek. The two journalists face charges of ‘public calls for mass unrest’ under Article 278 of the Criminal Code—a vague and overly broad provision frequently used to silence dissent. If convicted, they could face lengthy prison terms. Both reportedly ‘confessed’ to the charges while being interrogated without a lawyer present.

While the SCNS has not disclosed further details of the charges, a 30 May press release from the agency accused Kloop of operating illegally following a 2024 court ruling ordering the liquidation of the Kloop Media Public Foundation, the organisation running the Kloop news platform. Kloop’s top management, which is currently in exile for security reasons, has refuted these claims, stating that since the 2024 ruling, the platform has continued to operate legally through a separate legal entity that has not faced any official complaints.

The SCNS also accused Kloop of spreading “negative” and “distorted” content aimed at “manipulating” public opinion and provoking ‘’discontent’’ and unrest—language similar to that previously used to justify the court-ordered closure of the Kloop Media Public Foundation, although the official reason cited was that the organisation had allegedly operated beyond the scope of its charter.    

Denied access to legal counsel

In a troubling move, the SCNS released a video on its official Instagram account, showing several of the detained individuals expressing regret for contributing to Kloop’s allegedly “destructive” activities and to the dissemination of content ‘’denigrating’’ the president and his allies. They were also shown pledging to cease cooperation with the platform. In addition to constituting public shaming, this video footage raised concerns that detainees may have been subjected to pressure while being interrogated without legal protection.

We are seriously concerned that the SCNS’s recent actions are part of a broader retaliatory campaign against Kloop in response to its independent and investigative reporting, which has uncovered high-level corruption, government misconduct, and serious human rights abuses. Such journalism plays a vital role in ensuring transparency and accountability and upholding the rule of law – it is not a crime. By targeting Kloop staff in an attempt to silence the platform, the authorities are violating Kyrgyzstan’s international obligations to safeguard media freedom and freedom of expression, including the duty to ensure that media outlets and journalists can criticise those in power without fear of reprisal.

The reports of serious due process violations—searches conducted without warrants, arbitrary detentions, incommunicado detention, denial of access to legal counsel, and potential pressure—further reflect a profound disregard for the rule of law and fundamental rights protected under both international and national law.

Free press increasingly under attack

The renewed crackdown on Kloop comes amid an escalating assault on media freedom and critical voices in Kyrgyzstan. In the last few years, authorities have increasingly targeted independent outlets, journalists, and bloggers through raids, prosecutions, and other tactics designed to intimidate and silence them. In 2024, for example, during coordinated raids similar to those now affecting Kloop, the authorities detained a group of journalists linked to the Temirov Live platform—also known for investigating corruption. Four of them were later convicted under the same Criminal Code provision used in the Kloop case, and the platform’s director, Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy, is currently serving a six-year prison sentence.

The authorities have also sought to link the current detentions of Kloop staff to their alleged cooperation with Temirov Live’s founder, Bolot Temirov, who has lived abroad since being unlawfully stripped of his citizenship and expelled from Kyrgyzstan in 2022. In a Facebook post, a presidential spokesperson claimed that detained Kloop contributors had been paid by Temirov to conduct ‘’false’’ investigations. The abovementioned video that SCNS recorded also featured such allegations. While Temirov Live and Kloop have cooperated on joint corruption investigations, the detained individuals are not known to have had any direct contact with Temirov.

Critical voices face sweeping charges

A growing number of other journalists, bloggers, and activists have also faced charges under broadly worded Criminal Code provisions for criticising those in power. An independent journalist, Kanyshay Mamyrkulova, remains in detention pending trial, following her March 2025 arrest for allegedly inciting mass unrest and inter-ethnic hatred through social media posts critical of the government’s stance on the Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan border issue. A human rights defender, Rita Karasartova, is likewise in pre-trial detention on mass unrest-related charges after sharing a message on social media from an opposition activist in April 2025.

On 27 May 2025,  Zhoomart Karabaev, a whistleblower, received a three-year suspended sentence in a case brought against him for allegedly calling for mass unrest and the forceful seizure of power—charges that followed his exposure of how expert assessments dictated by the Kyrgyz security services are used in politically motivated prosecutions.

Part of systemic attempt to suppress debate

These targeted prosecutions and the broader pattern of ongoing persecution signal a systematic attempt to dismantle independent reporting and suppress open debate on issues of public concern in Kyrgyzstan. It has had a deeply chilling effect, fuelling growing fear and self-censorship among media contributors, civil society representatives, and ordinary social media users—aware that criticism of the authorities could result in harassment, criminal charges, or even imprisonment.

The downward trend is also reflected in international surveys: in the recently released 2025 World Press Freedom Index, Kyrgyzstan ranked 144th out of 180 countries—down 24 places from the previous year and, for the first time, below neighbouring Kazakhstan and just above Uzbekistan.

Kyrgyzstan must respect human rights

We call on Kyrgyzstan’s authorities to end this dangerous backsliding, uphold their international human rights obligations, and:

• Drop all charges against current and former Kloop employees brought in retaliation for the platform’s independent and investigative reporting, and immediately and unconditionally release the two journalists in pre-trial detention;
• Thoroughly and impartially investigate all reported due process violations relating to the detentions of Kloop staff and their friends and hold those responsible to account. This should include an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the recorded ‘repentant’ video messages, as well as any possible ill-treatment of detainees; and
• Cease the harassment and intimidation of Kloop and its contributors, as well as others targeted for independent reporting or criticism of those in power, and ensure they can carry out their professional and civic activities safely and without obstruction.

We further urge the European Union and Kyrgyzstan’s other international partners to respond resolutely to this renewed crackdown. Diplomatic engagement and international solidarity are urgently needed to defend Kyrgyzstan’s shrinking space for independent journalism and open public debate and to support those engaged in these activities in the face of increasing repression. The persecution of Kloop’s staff sends a chilling message to all independent voices in Kyrgyzstan and is part of an immediate and direct threat to the rule of law and democracy. It cannot afford to go unchallenged.

Signatories

The above text was co-written with and signed by the following organisations:

• International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR)
• Human Rights Watch
• Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR)
• Araminta
• The Norwegian Helsinki Committee
• Freedom For Eurasia
• People in Need
• World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
• International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders