You're reading: Kyrgyz block foreign TV ahead of election

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) — Kyrgyzstan's Ceentral Elections Commission says foreign television broadcasts will be halted next week to ensure that they do not affect the outcome of presidential elections in October.

The country’s two cable television comapnies said the suspension in the rebroadcasting of international stations by Kyrgyz television companies could cost them $100,000 (€73,335.29).

Many in the former Soviet republic rely on retransmission of Russian TV broadcasts for news and entertainment.

Opposition Ata-Meken party leader Omurbek Tekebayev says Russian broadcasters have denigrated some presidential candidates and praised others.