BISHKEK/Jan. 9 (The Bulletin) — A group of men attacked and beat Bolot Temirov, editor of the anti-corruption website FactCheck, near his office in Bishkek one month after he published information accusing the state customs department of corruption.
Rights activists have said that the attitude of the authorities in Kyrgyzstan, once considered a relative bastion of free speech in Central Asia, had worsened significantly in 2019.
Since Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Berlin-based Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and Bishkek-based Kloop led publication of an in-depth investigation into official corruption, media websites have been hacked and their bank accounts frozen.
Mr Temirov, the editor of FactCheck, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that he needed paramedic assistance after the attack and that he had filed a complaint to the authorities.
ENDS
— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020
— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin