Deputies adopted the draft law «On the media» in the second and third readings at a meeting of the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan.
MP Eldar Abakirov recalled that a number of journalists, media experts, lawyers, who are members of the working group on finalizing the draft law on the media, addressed President Sadyr Japarov, Speaker of the Parliament Nurlanbek Turgunbek uulu, deputies of the Parliament and heads of international agencies and organizations in Kyrgyzstan.
They asked the authorities to adopt the sixth version of the Law «On the Media».
Members of the group expressed deep concern in connection with the development of the situation around the draft law «On the media» at the stage of the second and third readings.
Eldar Abakirov asked to return the document to the second reading mode and hold repeated public hearings. But Vice Speaker Nurbek Sydygaliev put the draft law itself to a vote, not the MP’s proposal.
As a result, 57 MPs voted for the adoption of the bill in the third reading, 3 voted against.
Earlier, the MPs made changes to the bill that tighten the requirements for the media.
MPs Ilimbek Kubanychbekov, Aibek Matkerimov, Ernis Aidaraliev and Sovetbek Rustambek uulu proposed adding a clause, according to which a foreigner, a stateless person or a foreign legal entity, as well as companies with more than 35 percent foreign participation in the firm, cannot act as the founder of a media outlet. The Cabinet of Ministers did not express any objections.
They also proposed excluding from the draft law:
- Clause 3 of Article 9, according to which a legal entity with foreign participation in the Kyrgyz Republic and any foreign legal entity located outside the country, where the share of foreign contribution in the authorized capital is 50 percent or more, cannot be founders of television organizations;
- Clause 2 of Article 13, which states that an online media outlet, audio, video, and newsreel programmes have the right to undergo voluntary registration as mass media in the justice bodies of the Kyrgyz Republic in the manner established by the Cabinet of Ministers.
It should be noted that the version of the bill revised by the Ministry of Culture and the media community introduced voluntary registration for the media.
The parliament deputies also stipulated that a mass media outlet has the right to disseminate information from the day the Ministry of Justice makes a decision to register the media outlet.
It was proposed to supplement Article 13 with Clause 6, according to which registration, re-registration, and deregistration of the media are carried out in the manner set by the Cabinet of Ministers.
It should be noted that in January, a compromise version of the bill on the media was submitted to the Parliament for consideration. This is the sixth version of the law on the media. It was revised by the Ministry of Culture together with the media community and lawyers. The document provides for a ban on censorship, protection of sources of information. It also specifies the norms, in which cases the activities of a media outlet can be terminated or suspended. During discussions of previous versions of the document, most of the media representatives opposed the introduction of mandatory registration.