BISHKEK, JULY 3 2017 (The Bulletin) — A court in the Kyrgyz capital ordered ProMedia which runs Zanoza, one of the most lively and well-respected news websites in the country, to pay President Almazbek Atamayev damages of $400,000 for offending his dignity in a case that has raised questions over Kyrgyzstan’s commitment to free speech.

Immediately after the verdict, one of the co-founders of Zanoza, Dina Maslova, said that the media outlet simply couldn’t pay the fine and that, unless an appeal court overturned the verdict, it would have to close down.

“We criticise the president if it is needed because this is our work,” she said. “This is an irritation for the political authorities just before a presidential election. But we are going to appeal the decision. This case mostly harms the reputation of the judicial system and image of the country.”

The other co-founder of ProMedia and Zanoza is Naryn Idinov. He is under a travel ban linked to the defamation charges.

The charges trace back to a series of articles published by Zanoza and the local language service of the US- funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2015 and 2017 which quoted opposition activists describing Pres. Atambayev as corrupt and describing his lavish lifestyle.

The charges against Radio Free Europe were dropped after the head of the service, Tom Kent, flew in for talks with Mr Atambayev. In exchange for dropping the charges, Mr Kent replaced the head of the local language service.

This option wasn’t available to Zanoza. Still, Ms Maslova, the co- founder, was defiant and said that if Zanoza was forced to close, they would simply open up another website under another brand.

For Kyrgyzstan, the damage to its image as the most liberal of the five Central Asian states was instant. Free speech campaigners said that they had been warning of a gradual erosion of rights for the past couple of years.

And ordinary people on the streets of Bishkek were also concerned about the implications.

“Other media agencies may be intimidated by such large fines and will strengthen their (self) censorship. The reader will be limited in his or her choice and will not trust the media, especially when they talk about the President,” said Begaiym Adzhikeeva, a Bishkek resident.

Some analysts have linked the defamation case against Zanoza to a presidential election scheduled for October.

Mr Atambayev is stepping down after a single term in office, as stipulated by the constitution, but his preferred successor is facing an increasingly acrimonious contest.

ENDS

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(News report from Issue No. 335, published on July 3 2017)