BISHKEK (Reuters) -A court in Kyrgyzstan has banned three of the country’s top independent media outlets as “extremist organisations”, the first such ruling in the country’s history, weeks ahead of a snap parliamentary election.

The decision, issued on Monday but only publicised on Tuesday, bans the Kloop, Temirov Live, and AitAit Dese outlets’ websites, the first such ban in the country to target journalists and media outlets.

It also outlaws any activities “under the leadership or participation” of journalists Bolot Temirov and Rinat Tukhvatshin, the leaders of two of the banned outlets.

AUTHORITARIAN SHIFT IN KYRGYZSTAN

Once Central Asia’s most democratic country, Kyrgyzstan has become rapidly more authoritarian under President Sadyr Japarov, a nationalist and populist who was swept

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