New York, May 15, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to veto a bill that would reverse efforts to reform Kyrgyzstan’s state television and radio company (KTR) into a public broadcaster.
Kyrgyzstan’s parliament passed the bill on April 24. It gives the president the right to appoint KTR’s chief executives and affirms the state’s monopoly on national broadcasting. Bakiyev is expected to approve or reject it by May 24, according to local press reports and CPJ sources.