Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan earned international praise last month when they signed a border agreement ending years of tension that had sometimes spilled into deadly violence. A recent arrest in Kyrgyzstan suggests that authorities are sensitive to any criticism of a deal that was widely hailed as a big step for closer ties among Central Asian countries. 

Kanyshai Mamyrkulova, who has been described by Kyrgyz media sources as a journalist and an activist, was arrested on March 20, a week after President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan and Emomali Rahmon, Tajikistan’s leader, signed the peace agreement following painstaking negotiations over the delineation of the nearly 1,000-kilometer border between the two countries.

This week, a court upheld an earlier ruling that Mamyrkulova be held in pre-trial detention until May 19, in one of the latest cases in Kyrgyzstan that pits advocates of free speech against a government that increasingly views unfettered opinions and alleged disinformation as a threat to national stability. While critics warn that Kyrgyzstan is clamping down on free expression, the environment there is relatively looser than in Tajikistan, where the state exercises tighter controls over the media.

Mamyrkulova appears to have fallen foul of the authorities for critical posts on social media rather than any journalistic reports. 

She spread “false information regarding the Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan border issue” on Facebook, the Bishkek city police department said last month.

“The individual made calls aimed at destabilizing the socio-political situation in the Kyrgyz Republic by inciting mass disorder and promoting interethnic hatred between citizens of Kyrgyzstan and neighboring countries,” the department said. It added that Mamyrkulova had “previously been held accountable for similar actions — spreading misinformation and escalating tensions during past incidents involving border issues between the Kyrgyz and Uzbek republics.” 

A review of some of Mamyrkulova’s Facebook posts reveals a stream of comments and barbs about alleged corruption, official wrongdoing, and prosecutions, often delivered with cheeky humor. Some are indirect or use metaphors to make a point. Several that refer to the border agreement suggest the Kyrgyz government was not transparent enough with its citizens and imply that Tajikistan got the better of the deal.  

In a letter released last week, Mamyrkulova said she hadn’t done anything wrong. 

“I did not kill anyone, did not steal from the state, and did not take bribes. I’ve only posted about legal, political, economic, and social issues affecting the public. Regarding the criminal charges brought against me under Article 278 (part 3) and Article 330 (part 1) of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic — I have never committed, nor will I ever commit such crimes,” she said in the statement, which was posted on the Facebook account of supporter Amanbol Babakulov.  

“They spun a criminal case from thin air simply because I wrote what the public was thinking, in a way that struck a nerve. I know this well myself — as do the lawyers, the attorneys, and those who work closely with the justice system,” she said. 

The Media Action Platform of Kyrgyzstan, which represents journalists, called for Mamyrkulova to be freed, saying that “it is obvious that there are no calls for violence, riots or international division” in the social media posts that were flagged by authorities and that equating an opinion with a crime violates the Constitution. 

Separately, on Wednesday, Japarov pardoned 41 people who had been convicted of crimes, according to the Kloop news organization. Those who were pardoned include activist Zarina Torokulova and reporter Azamat Ishenbekov, both of whom got into trouble for social media posts and were sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of calling for riots. They were detained in September 2023 and January 2024, respectively.