A post appeared on the Telegram channel of April TV under the title «The latest news. The project has come to an end» on August 18.
In it, the editorial team thanked viewers for their support and announced that April TV was shutting down.
«As we stated earlier, the court’s decision to close our newsroom must be executed, no matter how unjust it may be. In a situation where lawlessness is gradually becoming the norm, someone has to follow the letter of the law, even when the spirit of that law is meant to prohibit censorship,» the editorial board noted.
Recall, on July 9, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Bishkek ruled to liquidate April TV. The decision was made by judge Tolondu Samakov. The decision also ordered the deletion or blocking of all the outlet’s social media accounts.
In April, the Prosecutor’s Office of Oktyabrsky district filed a lawsuit to close April TV channel. It was stated that the goal was «to protect public safety, prevent the dissemination of illegal information and ensure compliance with legislation in the sphere of mass media.»
Then the channel’s editor-in-chief Dmitry Lozhnikov, commenting on the situation, noted that the editorial board would comply with the court’s decision, whatever it may be. At the same time, he recalled that criticism of the authorities is not a crime, but one of the key functions of the mass media.
