Kyrgyz Light

[Doug Millison]

Kyrgyz court postpones newspaper hearing

A court in Kyrgyzstan has postponed for a second time a hearing in a
case brought against the government by two independent newspapers. 

Several newspapers have challenged the government's right to annul their
registration, in what human rights groups see as a test case of the
authorities' willingness to tolerate a free press. 

Last month the government called for the de-registration of all
newspapers. 

This would prevent the papers from being published legally until they
were re-registered, and the legality of the move is being challenged by
the newspapers. 

The BBC Central Asia Correspondent says that international media
watchdogs have concluded that the authorities are deliberately
obstructing the case against the government.   

Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_1465000/1465062.
stm - BBC

(as summarized in EJC Media News Digest of 31 July 2001, European Journalism
Centre website at <http://www.ejc.nl> )