Kyrgyzstan: journalist was detained during election coverage

In the city of Osh, the operator of the media “Narodnoe (Eldik) Media” was detained and taken to the Department of Internal Affairs for illegal filming at one of the territorial polling stations.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic, the head of one of the polling stations contacted the authorities and said that the journalist was filming without permission.

“The media representative was taken to the Department of Internal Affairs by the police, where he was released after interrogation. The materials will be handed to the territorial polling station, and the operator may be fined,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.

ACCA asked the Chairman of the Independent Journalists’ Union of Kyrgyzstan Azamat Kasybekov to comment on the situation.

“Unfortunately, we must admit that not all journalists, covering the electoral process, know their rights and responsibilities. It’s difficult for me to judge what happened at the polling station. Perhaps, the operator was filming in the wrong place and a bulletin could get into the frame, which was the reason for misunderstanding with the chairman of the polling station. However, at the same time, I would like to emphasize that in our opinion, the measures, that were applied to the journalist, are too harsh. They could have limited themselves to a warning,” Azamat Kasybekov said.