In Kyrgyzstan, an ‘unprecedented crackdown’ on free press raises alarm

Rinat Tuhvatshin (left), head of the investigative outlet Kloop, fled Kyrgyzstan in 2023 fearing a media crackdown and is now based in Poland. Aidai Irgebai (right), a presenter, producer and editor with Kloop, says she may never return to Bishkek [Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska/Al Jazeera]

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and Warsaw, Poland – Last year, Aidai Irgebai had a serious talk with her two daughters, aged nine and seven.

The girls would not return to their school in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital, when the holiday break was over, Irgebai told them. In fact, they may not return home at all.