Atambayev sees signs of improvements in policies of Kyrgyz branch of Radio Liberty, asks for defamation lawsuit against it to be withdrawn
BISHKEK. May 12 (Interfax) - Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev has suggested that the republic's Prosecutor General's Office withdraw its lawsuit, worth almost $150,000, against the local Radio Liberty service.
Atambayev suggested considering the issue of dropping the claims against the Radio Azattyk (Kyrgyz branch of Radio Liberty) establishment, the Kyrgyz presidential press service told Interfax on Friday.
Atambayev met with Thomas Kent, president of the media corporation Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, at his personal request on March 30. The meeting addressed issues relating to the balance and objectivity of the reporting on the events taking place in the country, issues relating to the impartiality of journalism, and the causes of the ideas that specific journalists are biased. The meeting also addressed the unacceptability of discrediting the most important principles of freedom of speech.
"In the time that has passed since the meeting, a positive tendency was observed in the work of Radio Azattyk, which ensured greater balance of the materials aired and reported by this media organization," the press service said.
Many experts find that the quality of Radio Azattyk reporting has increased, the source said. "While unconditionally preserving the principles of free journalism and freedom of speech, Azattyk Radio has taken relevant measures as regards the observance of its editorial policies, including in the preliminary systematic legal analysis of debatable provisions in the preparation of materials to air and reports to be posted on the Internet site," the source said.
"The litigation made the entire media community and non-governmental sector more active, and, most importantly, it promoted a debate on the quality of the work of journalists and the need to revise some stereotypes that led to the discrimination of freedom of speech. All these processes inside the media community, in Atambayev's opinion, lead to improvements in the national information space," the press service said.
In early March, the Kyrgyz Prosecutor General's Office filed lawsuits against Radio Azattyk and the website Zanoza.kg seeking the protection of the honor, dignity and business reputation of the president worth ten million som ($147,000) and three million som ($45,000), respectively.
The lawsuits were filed over information released by the media, citing lawyers from the opposition party Ata-Meken (Motherland), stating that the cargo carried by the Boeing that crashed near Bishkek on January 16 belonged to the president's family and that relevant documents had allegedly been obtained from the Turkish special services. At the same time, the embassy of Turkey in Kyrgyzstan called those documents fake. Lawsuits worth ten million som ($147,000) have also been filed against the Ata-Meken lawyers.