Kyrgyz court frees jailed media director but fails to drop retaliatory charges 

The Leninskiy District Court in Bishkek ruled today release Makhabat Tajibek kyzy into house arrest local media reported. Makhabat Tajibek kyzy is a female media director who has spent more than two years in state custody after her arrest in January 2024.

Judge Temirbek Mamatov, who reviewed the case following the ruling by the nation’s Supreme Court, refused to drop the charges and acquit the journalist who participated in the hearing via a web link from the prison colony, Radio Azattyk reported. Mamatov also imposed a travel ban on Tajibek kyzy, and her case is expected to be retried. 

Civil Rights Defenders welcomes the decision allowing Makhabat Tajibek kyzy to return home and to finally reunite with her family and teenage son. We also repeat the call that Civil Rights Defenders and other human rights groups have made since the day Tajibek kyzy and her colleagues were arrested: Kyrgyzstani authorities should drop all unsubstantiated charges brought in retaliation for her legitimate journalistic work. Makhabat Tajibek kyzy needs to be fully acquitted and rehabilitated.  

The director of anti-corruption investigative outlets Temirov Live and Ait Ait Dese, Tajibek kyzy was arrested in January 2024 along with 10 other current and former staff members and sentenced in October of that year to six years in prison on charges of calling for mass unrest. Until today, all of her co-defendants in the case have been released from jail under probation, pardoned or acquitted.