With Journalists Behind Bars, Kyrgyzstan Enters New Era of Repression – The Diplomat

On Aike Beishekeyeva’s 23rd birthday on January 16, the young Kyrgyz journalist was planning to buy a cake to share with her colleagues.

That celebration never happened. Instead, early that morning, Beishekeyeva was arrested at her family home on suspicion of “inciting mass unrest.” For weeks, she has been awaiting trial in Detention Center 1, a grim warren of low-slung buildings in the center of Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek.

Her mother, Nazgul Matanayeva, recalls how her daughter looked at a court hearing — brave, but tired….