Access to Fergana.ru should be restored immediately and Internet should remain free in Kyrgyzstan, says OSCE media representative

VIENNA, 27 February 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, called today for the block on news site Fergana.ru in Kyrgyzstan to be lifted and urged the authorities to ensure that the Internet remains free in the country.

Kyrgyzstan’s Internet service providers last week started enforcing a parliamentary resolution to block Fergana.ru, an independent online portal specialized in Central Asian political issues. The parliament (Jogorku Kenesh), citing Fergana.ru’s coverage of the June 2010 violence in Kyrgyzstan’s south, last year requested that the government take steps to deny Internet users access to the portal. 

“This effective ban, which was decided without even a court sanction, should be lifted immediately. Disrupting the free flow of information on the Internet contravenes OSCE media freedom commitments and constrains debate on issues of public interest,” Mijatović said. 

“In a letter I sent on 23 February to Asylbek Jeenbekov, the speaker of the Jogorku Kenesh, I criticized the resolution and pointed out that legislators should not adopt laws or resolutions that aim at restricting freedom of the media, including online, but should ensure that the Internet remains a free forum to exchange information and ideas.” 

“It is unfortunate that Kyrgyzstan, which lately took a number of steps toward enhancing media freedom, including decriminalization of defamation, made a decision that goes in the opposite direction,” she added.

Mijatović welcomed the statement of Presidential spokesperson Kadyr Toktogulov, who questioned the blocking of Fergana.ru, and said she hoped Internet users will be soon able to freely access this website again.