Former Kloop operators sentenced to prison in Bishkek

The district court of Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, has made a decision in the most controversial case in the independent information field. This was reported by Zamin.uz.

On September 17, the court sentenced former operators of the "Kloop" internet publication, Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Joomart Duolatov, to five years of imprisonment. Additionally, two accountants whose names were not disclosed were given three-year suspended sentences.

All of them were found guilty of inciting mass unrest. The indictment noted that the defendants participated in distributing materials prepared in cooperation with Bolot Temirov, founder of the Temirov Live YouTube channel, who is engaged in critical and investigative journalism.

They were charged with "spreading false information, unjustified criticism of the country's leadership, inciting mass unrest, and calling for the violent seizure of power." However, "Kloop" firmly denied these allegations on its official Telegram channel.

According to the publication, the videos discussed in court were not published on the site, and neither the operators nor the accountants were involved in them. One of the state experts in the court process, Taalaybek Abdiqozoev, confirmed that it was impossible to identify the true authors of the videos.

This verdict has sparked significant debates regarding local journalism and freedom of speech. The decision is criticized by the public, as it is emphasized that some of the accused have no connection to the case at all.

Currently, the disputes related to the case and its consequences are raising many questions in society and causing widespread public discussion.