Opposition newspaper under threat

An opposition daily newspaper in Kyrgyzstan has been threatened with closure following a court order providing for the seizure of its property and freezing of its bank accounts. "We have written to the Bishkek appeal court, but they have not responded yet. We hope they will come back on this judgment," the head of the Europe desk for Reporters Without Borders (RWB), Soria Blatmann, told IRIN from Paris on Thursday. The Moya Stolitsa newspaper is known for reporting on political corruption, and has been under pressure from the authorities for several years. After independence from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Kyrgyzstan was the least repressive of the five Central Asia republics. However, the country is now being increasingly criticised by international rights groups for cracking down on freedom of expression and political opposition . According to RWB, the Lenin court in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, issued the order on 20 January after several libel suits were filed against the newspaper through associates of President Askar Akayev, who included Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev. The newspaper faces libel damages of up to US $300,000. "This is a huge amount and threatens the survival of the newspaper," Blatmann said, adding that RWB was calling on the court to put an end to the financial pressure. This is the second time Moya Stolitsa has faced problems. Last year a state-run printing firm, Uchkun, refused to print the newspaper for unknown reasons when it contained articles on high-level corruption. A journalist working for the newspaper, Alexandra Chernykh, was beaten by two attackers on 17 January. Her mother, Rina Prizhivoit, is the chief of the political desk and known for her investigative reporting of corruption within politics. "The attack was aimed at Rina Prizhivoit," she said. "The situation of censorship is worsening in Kyrgyzstan," she warned.