The Bishkek court passed a sentence in a criminal case on calls for mass riots, in which 11 current and former journalists of the YouTube project Temirov Live and its subdivision “Ait Ait Dese” were accused.

According to Radio Azattyk, two of the defendants received real sentences: the director of the projects and the wife of their founder Bolot Temirov Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy was sentenced to six years in prison. Journalist Azamat Ishenbekov was sentenced to five years in prison.

The prosecutor's office asked for six years' imprisonment for each of the accused.

Former and current employees of Temirov Live were detained in January 2024. The Kyrgyz Interior Ministry charged the journalists with “calls for active disobedience to the lawful demands of the authorities and mass disorder, as well as calls for violence against citizens” (part 3 of Article 278 of Kyrgyzstan).

According to the defendants' lawyers, the criminal prosecution of the journalists was based on the linguistic expertise, which recognized the phrase “Freedom is not given for nothing, we must all fight for it” as calls to riots. This is a quote from the Kyrgyz folk epic “Manas”. Temirov Live journalists used to end their newscasts with this phrase.

Bolot Temirov, the founder of Temirov Live, linked the persecution of journalists to their professional activities. The YouTube channel Temirov Live broadcasts high-profile investigations about corruption in the state structures of Kyrgyzstan. Earlier, the authorities instituted several criminal cases against Temirov. In November 2022, he was stripped of his Kyrgyz citizenship and expelled from the country.