In Kyrgyzstan, at once three mass media face huge lawsuits

In July, at once three mass media of Kyrgyzstan were charged with defending their honor, dignity and business reputation. Lawsuits reach a total of $100.000.

The lawsuits against journalists are stated in the monthly report of the Public Association “Journalists”. So, according to the collected data, three mass media fell into disgrace of officials.

According to ex-Ombudsman Tursunbek Akun, the Oktyabr District Court of Bishkek is considering a lawsuit against the TV channel “April”. The reasons for going to court were allegedly damage to the honor, dignity and business reputation of Tursunbek Akun.

It’s about the story in the news broadcast on May 6, 2019, in which it was a fragment of an interview with Khava Khamidova, sister of criminal authority Aziz Batukaev. In the interview, the woman claims that her husband personally transferred $100.000 to Tursunbek Akun for support in Batukaev’s discharge.

It is noted that earlier in 2014 the same interview was published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” in the article of the journalist Ulukbek Babakulov. However, then for some reason Tursunbek Akun did not react to the publication.

“Tursunbek Akun informed us that he intends to have legal proceedings with the TV channel “April”. However, if the “April” gives an official disclaimer, he promised to withdraw his statement,” said the PA “Journalists”.

In addition, for the damage to his official refutation, the ex-Ombudsman demands to recover $7100 (500.000 soms) from the editorial office of the TV channel “April”, and $1432 (100 thousand soms) from the journalist Kanat Kanimetov (the material author) for moral damage.

Chairman of the Independent Union of Journalists of Kyrgyzstan, Azamat Kasybekov, believes that there are no grounds for holding the TV channel and its employee liable responsible for this. Despite the Constitution and the Civil Code of Kyrgyzstan, which enshrine a person’s right to protect honor and reputation, the Article 45 of the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On Television and Radio Broadcasting” stipulates that a broadcasting organization and its employees are not responsible for disseminating information that is not true in case if “it is a verbatim reproduction of materials distributed by another mass media or news agency, with reference to it”.

“In this case, the disputed information was taken from a third party interview with another media, which serves as the basis for exemption from liability,” Azamat Kasybekov emphasized.

The TV channel “April” is not just one media that received a writ in July. Against the newspaper “Achyk Sayasat Plus” [“Open Politics Plus”], three legal cases are currently open at once for a total of $12.178 (850.000 soms).

The deputy of the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan Kozhobek Ryspaev is demanding satisfaction, because the newspaper’s journalists compared him in his article with a “chameleon” for frequent transitions from one party to another. Also, lawsuits were filed by prosecutor Kuban Shatenov and the Head of the Department of drug supply and medical equipment of the Ministry of Health Gulmira Shakirova.

In the first two cases, the court sided with the plaintiffs and ordered the editors of “Open Policy Plus” to pay compensation $4.298 (300.000 soms) and $716 (50.000 soms) to Ryspaev for moral damage.

According to Nazgul Mamytova, editor-in-chief of the edition, the amount of claims for the newspaper is impossible and threatens the editorial office with closing.

“We completely disagree with the court decision and will appeal it. Our journalists will seek justice to the end,” Mamytova said.

As for the lawsuit of Gulmira Shakirova, a linguistic examination is currently being conducted by the court. It will show whether the newspaper “Open Politics Plus” will have to pay $7163 (500.000 soms) or not for moral damage.

It is noted that the protection of the interests of the newspaper will be handled by the Media Ombudsman of Kyrgyzstan Akmat Alagushev.

“In determining the amount of compensation for moral damage, the court ignored the principles of reasonableness and justice. For the newspaper with a circulation of over 2300 copies, this is a large amount. At the same time, there is no clear justification in the reasoning part of the decision on the basis of what criteria this amount came out from,” Azamat Kasybekov commented.

However, the biggest lawsuit to date has been filed by the Head of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Internal Affairs, Kashkar Dzhunushaliev, to the newspaper “Asia-News”, and he demands $71.635 (5 million soms) from the editorial office for “false information and collage” published in the newspaper. No decision has yet been made on the lawsuit.

“The law establishes that “government officials may be criticized in the media regarding how they perform their duties, as this is necessary to ensure that they carry out their duties publicly and responsibly. Public persons are open to the coverage of their words and deeds”. Consequently, public persons should be more tolerant of criticism regarding their personality and their activities. In addition, the plaintiff’s claims for compensation for moral damage in the amount of $71.635 (5 million soms) do not meet the principles of reasonableness and justice, it is obvious that the fabulous amount was established in order to intimidate the media, and if the court satisfies the lawsuit, it will terminate the media. Taking into account that the legislation does not establish limits for the amount of moral compensation, we expect that the court will be guided by the principles of legality, justice, reasonableness and objectivity when considering a statement of claim,” the chairman of the Independent Union of Journalists explained.

The material was prepared by the ACCA journalist based on monitoring data prepared by the Public Association “Journalists”.