Access to the independent site “Kloop” has been blocked in Kyrgyzstan

Some Kyrgyz internet providers have blocked access to the independent site “Kloop” (kloop.kg), complying with a requirement from the Ministry of Culture of Kyrgyzstan.

Earlier, the Ministry of Culture of Kyrgyzstan threatened to block the “Kloop” site under the “fake news” law if the editorial team did not remove material about politician Ravshan Djeenbekov, who has reportedly been tortured in a pre-trial detention center in Bishkek.

The State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan complained about this material, stating that it “contradicts the law on fakes and tarnishes the reputation of the SCNS.”

On September 7, the Ministry of Culture of Kyrgyzstan sent a letter to the editorial team of “Kloop,” demanding the removal of “false information,” otherwise the site’s operations would be suspended for up to two months.

In response, “Kloop” lawyers filed a complaint and urged the Ministry of Culture to reconsider its decision. However, on September 11, the ministry rejected the editorial team’s complaint.

On September 12, the editorial team of “Kloop” in its statement emphasized that it would not delete anything despite the threats of blocking and would fight against the injustice from the authorities of Kyrgyzstan, as the editorial team believes the news contained no false information.

The statement notes that “the authorities of Kyrgyzstan want to shield the country’s residents from receiving information at any cost,” and their actions appear “even more suspicious.”

“Whatever the authorities of Kyrgyzstan try to hide from the population, they will not succeed. We will not succumb to any compromise proposals and, even more so, to any threats of closure and blocking. We will find many ways to inform the people of Kyrgyzstan,” the statement reads.

This is not the first time that the authorities of Kyrgyzstan have attempted to block the “Kloop” site. Earlier, at the end of August, the Bishkek prosecutor’s office filed a lawsuit to liquidate “Kloop” due to the “negative influence of Kloop’s publications on Kyrgyzstan,” “sharp criticism of the policies of the current government,” and “discrediting representatives of state and municipal authorities.”

The independent site “Kloop” regularly conducts journalistic investigations, primarily covering corruption schemes and pressure from the authorities. The site’s materials resonate in society.

On August 22, the “Kloop” site published an investigation into the connections of the football club “Barcelona” with relatives of President Sadyr Japarov and the head of the SCNS Kamchybek Tashiev.

Recently, the site also published several materials about President Japarov’s connections with tycoons and monopolists in certain sectors of the country’s economy.