His Excellency Askar Akayev
President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan
Office of the President
Bishkek
Kyrgyzstan
Vienna, 1 October 1997
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI) strongly protests the decision by a district court in Bishkek to sentence Rysbek Omurzakov, a reporter for the weekly Res Publika, to three years in prison for libelling the manager of a state-owned factory.
On 29 September 1997, Lenin District Court Judge Usen Sarymsakov declared Mr. Omurzakov guilty of criminal libel under Article 128 of the criminal code of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. Mikhail Paryshkura, the manager of the Frunze Machine-Building Factory, had filed criminal libel charges against Mr. Omurzakov on 7 February for an article, published in Res Publika, describing the poor living conditions in the factory’s hostel. Mr. Omurzakov was arrested in March despite a pledge made weeks before by Mr. Paryshkura to drop the charges. He made the promise after Mr. Omurzakov presented him with a petition signed by 108 employees of the Frunze factory about the substandard conditions in their living quarters.
The trial opened on 19 May in the Pervomaisky District Court in Bishkek. Mr. Paryshkura said he would drop the charges if Mr. Omurzakov apologised and the newspapers published a retraction. However, the reporter and his editors stood by their story. On 21 May, the judge sent the case back to the prosecutor for re-investigation. Mr. Omurzakov was released from jail on 10 June pending trial. His trial resumed on 18 September.
On 29 September, the judge ordered Mr. Omurzakov to serve two and a half years in a minimum security penal colony, counting his six months under criminal investigation as time served. We understand that Mr. Omurzakov will appeal to a higher court.
IPI, the global network of editors and media executives from newspapers, magazines, broadcasting organisations and news agencies in over 100 countries, condemns the criminal prosecution of a journalist for “insulting” or “libelling” a public figure. Such laws prevent the media from offering criticism of government actions, lead to self-censorship and contradict Article 19 of the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including “freedom to hold opinions without interference.”
We believe the media should be judged by civil libel laws and not by criminal statutes, and therefore strongly urge Your Excellency to ensure that Mr. Omurkazov’s conviction is overturned and that he is released immediately.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director
