RSF Applauds Decision to Lift Ban on Kloop Website
The international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has recently praised the decision made by the Administrative Court in Bishkek to lift the block on the Russian language version of the investigative media website Kloop. This comes after the Ministry of Culture’s attempts to remove content from the site and subsequently block it were deemed invalid by the court.
The decision specifically pertains to the Russian-language version of the Kloop website, which had been inaccessible since September 12. The Kyrgyz language version of the site had also been blocked since early November.
The controversy surrounding the blocking of Kloop.kg stemmed from an article titled “Politician Ravshan Dzheenbekov stated that he was tortured in the pretrial detention center 1.” The State Committee for National Security had lodged a complaint with the Ministry of Culture, alleging that the material was false and damaging to the reputation of the SCNS. However, the article also included statements from the Penitentiary Service refuting Dzheenbekov’s claims of torture.
The decision by the Administrative Court to allow access to the Russian language version of Kloop is seen as a victory for press freedom in Kyrgyzstan. Reporters Without Borders has applauded the ruling, emphasizing the importance of upholding freedom of expression and access to information in a democratic society.
