Kyrgyzstan: media worker arrested, charged for covering mass rally
Event- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Initial Date
- Nov 1, 2022
- Event Description
Bishkek police detained Kyrgyz journalist Semetei Talas Uulu on November 1 on the charge of preparing and disseminating extremist materials. The journalist's lawyer, Askat Jakupbekov, told RFE/RL that his client's pretrial restrictions will be decided in 48 hours. The 41-year-old investigative journalist's detainment comes days after he covered on social networks a mass rally held on October 23 protesting the nation's deal on handing of the Kempir-Abad water reservoir to Uzbekistan in exchange for larger lands. Twenty-six politicians and activists have been detained since then.
A Bishkek court placed Kyrgyz journalist Semetei Talas-uulu under house arrest on November 3, two days after he was detained on a charge of preparing and disseminating extremist materials. Talas-uulu, who insists he is innocent, told journalists that the charge against him stems from a post he shared last year from a website close to the Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic group, which is banned in Kyrgyzstan. The 41-year-old investigative journalist’s detainment came days after he covered a mass rally on October 23 protesting the nation's handing of a Kyrgyz-Uzbek border deal.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression
- Online
- Right to liberty and security
- Freedom of expression
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 42.87642669586849
Longitude: 74.6084665583945
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 1 November 2022, Semetei Talas-uulu, media worker, was arrested and charged with terrorism days after he covered a mass rally being staged in the country in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.