Journalists vs. the President- how Kyrgyz authorities keep silencing their critics

In 2022, Kyrgyzstan was ranked 72nd out of 180 countries on the press freedom index but in 2023, it plunged all the way to the 122nd spot, the sharpest decline of any country ever. Despite high levels of corruption and state-mandated human rights violation, Kyrgyzstan has always had a strong civil society and thriving independent media. However, since president Sadyr Japarov took over in 2020, the space for freedom of expression has rapidly shrunk. What happened? In this episode of Trouble with the Truth, exiled human rights activist and lawyer Leila Seiitbek talks about recent developments- the arrest of 11 independent journalists in Kyrgyzstan, the closure of prominent social media outlets and the controversial ‘foreign representatives’ law that places NGOs in danger. Is Japarov drawing inspiration from other Central Asian authoritarians when it comes to trampling independent voices? How are the journalists resisting? Is another wave of protests likely? Find this out and more, in this new episode of Trouble with the Truth.