Parliamentary elections were held in Kyrgyzstan on October 4. International observers have already reported that no gross violations were recorded. However, reports of obstruction of the media’s work and attacks on individual journalists are just the opposite.
At least, there were two cases of attacks on journalists from Kloop and Radio Liberty (Azattyk). This was officially announced by the editors of these publications.
Thus, an attack was made on the film crew of Radio Liberty (Azattyk) in Talas.
“An unknown woman hit the camera and demanded to stop filming. The incident took place at the polling station No. 6108. At that moment, the journalist Aygerim Akylbekova spoke about the long queue, which was formed, among other things, due to the large number of voters on the basis of the form No. 2. It is the document that allows voting outside the place of registration. At that moment an unknown woman hit the camera and several times demanded to stop filming,” stated on the website of Azattyk.
Meanwhile, in Osh, in the center of the city, near the polling station No. 5316, unknown guys attacked the journalist of Kloop Khamidullo Uzakov.
“They tried to prevent from filming. They wanted to take away his video camera and for some time they took away his phone. The policemen nearby did nothing. Later the phone was returned,” the editorial office said.
At the same time, the Deputy Prime Minister Akram Madumarov and the Deputy Interior Minister Almazbek Orozaliev assured that the authorities did their best to ensure that the elections were held safely.
“We have recorded two cases of attacks on journalists. We are currently preparing a statement from the media community on these incidents. It is unacceptable for journalists to be attacked while they are doing their job. In this case, they covered the course of the elections. We regard this as pressure on freedom of speech in the Kyrgyz Republic. We intend to demand the power structures to investigate these cases, regardless of whether the affected correspondents write a statement or not,” Azamat Kasybekov, the head of the Independent Union of journalists of Kyrgyzstan, told ACCA.
In addition, the correspondents, who were covering the parliamentary elections, stated that their work was obstructed at certain polling stations in Cholpon-Ata and Osh.
“At polling stations No. 3027 and No. 3250 in Cholpon-Ata, where most of the voters went to vote with form No. 2, we were not allowed to enter the polling station. They said that this was an instruction from above,” a regional correspondent told us.
A similar situation was in the city of Osh at polling station No. 5912.
“The men, standing at the entrance, said that the chairperson of the Local election commission gave the order not to let the journalists in. The police stated that there was no violation in the fact that journalists were not allowed to enter the territory of the polling station,” wrote the Kyrgyz media.
According to Azamat Kasybekov, these cases may be not related to violations at the polling stations.
“Many are simply not aware of the rights that journalists have in their coverage of elections. In each case, it is necessary to understand who gave the appropriate instructions,” he emphasized.
At the same time, according to him, subject to the information that was published in the media and social networks, there is a feeling that violations have become widespread.
“There have been many reports concerning vote-buying. There were also reports of transportation of voters to specific polling stations. It is also very strange that more than 400 thousand people changed their polling stations before the elections. Previously, people have also changed their polling stations, but I don’t remember that it was so. All this leads to thoughts of bribery. In any case, the relevant services should look into this,” concluded the head of the Independent Union of journalists.
On October 4, 15 violations of the electoral process were registered in the Unified Register of misdemeanors and crimes, and the operational response coordination group received 79 complaints. However, according to the member of Central election commission Tynchtyk Shaynazarov, these violations will not affect the election results.
According to preliminary results, five parties crossed the seven percent threshold: “Unity” [Birimdik], “Motherland Kyrgyzstan” [Mekenim Kyrgyzstan], “Kyrgyzstan”, “United “Kyrgyzstan” [Butun Kyrgyzstan] and Patriotic” [Mekenchil]. The rest of the political associations announced an unlimited rally. They demand to recognize the elections as illegitimate.
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