The International Foundation for the\r\nProtection of Freedom of Speech Adil Soz made a study of the situation with the\r\nright to freedom of expression, receipt and dissemination of information in\r\nKazakhstan in October 2017.
\r\nIt reports:
\r\nFour social\r\nnetworks users are acquitted in the case of inciting hatred
\r\nOn\r\nOctober 25, an acquittal was made for Gulzhazir Bayshegasheva, Birlik Yzbaev,\r\nMakpal Sadykova, Bulbul Nurali under Article 174 part 1 of the Criminal Code of\r\nthe Republic of Kazakhstan by the Uighur District Court of Almaty Region under\r\nthe chairmanship of Judge R. Suleymenov.
\r\nFour users of Facebook and VC\r\n(Vkontakte, Russian social network) left their spontaneous questions and\r\nremarks under the post about the incident in the school in the village of\r\nKetpen: \"What happened?\", \"Is everything OK?\", \"Is it\r\nthat Ketman that is in the Uighur district?\", \"It looks as if they\r\nwant to start an ethnic conflict ... \",\" I really do not know\r\n\",\" The video is spread at Whatsapp\",\" I\'m tired, every\r\ntime they start this fuss\". These phrases became the reason for\r\ninstituting criminal proceedings.
\r\nBesides, Judge R. Suleimenov issues\r\na special court ruling against the investigators of the Raimbek District Police\r\nDepartment E. Imankulov and Uygur District Police Department of the Almaty\r\nregion T. Makhamet for illegal criminal prosecution of the social networks\r\nusers.
\r\nThe expert research made by the\r\nlaboratory of the Ministry of Justice in the East Kazakhstan region found signs\r\nof inciting ethnic hatred, whereas, according to the the specialist of the\r\n\"Adil Soz\" Foundation, there were no aggressive intentions to\r\ndiscriminate anyone or to incite hatred in the texts of comments.
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On 9 October Seitkazy Matayev,\r\nchairman of the Union of Journalists of Kazakhstan, has applied to the UN\r\ncommittee against torture in connection with his health condition and ongoing\r\nignorance of medical reports by the judicial system.
\r\nHealth condition of S. Matayev keeps on\r\ncausing concern. His pressure is high under the diagnosis \"Arterial\r\nhypertension III degree, risk - IV, hypertensive crisis\". Moreover, he\r\nneeds surgery. Now S. Matayev is staying in the medical unit of LA\r\n155/14.
\r\n\"My application to the members of UN committee against tortures\r\nfollows announcement of the human rights performance and people\'s health by the\r\nUN as a priority, especially in the detention facilities. Kazakhstan as a UN\r\nmember signed and ratified the comprehensive declaration on human rights, the\r\nconvention against tortures and other international pacts and treaties, it\r\nassumed liability to perform the comprehensive declaration on human rights and\r\nthe convention against tortures in order to exclude recurrences on the\r\nterritory of each UN member state,\" wrote S. Matayev in his application.
\r\nHe indicated concrete facts of violation of his rights for health and\r\nlife.
\r\n\"I have been under arrest since February 22 2016. Since\r\nthose days I have been in a pre-blood stroke condition, my diagnosis was\r\nconfirmed by the city cardiological center of Almaty where I was urgently\r\nhospitalized in February and April 2016. There are medical reports of the\r\nexperts of the center of forensic medicine of the Ministry of Justice of\r\nKazakhstan (N71 dated May 6 2016), of the national center of oncology and\r\ntransplantology of the Ministry of Health Care of Kazakhstan (N4419 dated\r\nAugust 23 2016), of the central railway hospital \"Railway hospital of the\r\nmedicine of catastrophes\" (N8152 dated September 12 2016). My diagnosis was confirmed by expert doctors of the highest category:\r\n\"Arterial hypertension III degree, risk - IV, hypertensive crisis,\"\r\nhe said.
\r\nCurrently S. Matayev is getting in-patient care in the medical unit of\r\nLA 155/14. His high arterial pressure (200x100) can be confirmed by the\r\nrecords from his medical card since January 18 2017, and consulting physician\r\nK. Nurakhynova. Judge of Kapshagay city court Zh. Zhanbolatov did not draw any attention to the health condition of the\r\npatient and his need in kidneys and cerebrum surgery, ignoring forensic\r\nexpertise and other documents at the judicial hearing on the request of\r\nS.Matayev to change the restraint measure dated July 19 2017.
\r\nMoreover, the judge refused to invite the consulting physician to the\r\nhearing saying that health condition of S. Matayev is not a matter of\r\ndiscussion. Judge of appellate collegiums of Almaty regional court\r\nZhantasov also ignored the medical reports, although lawyers had been trying to\r\ndraw his attention to the problem at the hearing on September 19 2017. All\r\nthese facts are nothing but tortures.
\r\n\"My 20 months stay in custody (since February 22 2016 until today)\r\nis violation of human rights and torture. Despite the diagnosis and\r\nmedical reports of medical experts I cannot get qualified medical aid,\r\nincluding operation and health rehabilitation frustrated by arrest and long\r\nterm confinement,\" said S. Matayev.
\r\n\r\n
Police identified persons involved in\r\ndistributing information about use of nude men and women pictures as\r\nillustrations to the tasks in Kazakhstani math textbook. Those social netwok users that were not\r\ninvolved in distribution of fake information but commented on the problem with\r\nKazakhstani textbooks were interrogated as well.
\r\nPre-trial investigation is conducted\r\non the application of the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) of the\r\nRepublic of Kazakhstan under art. 274, part 3 (\"Distribution of knowingly\r\nfalse information\").
\r\nOn October 3, Director of the\r\nDepartment of State Language and Information of the Ministry of Internal\r\nAffairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Almas Sadubayev said that persons\r\ninvolved in distribution of false information were found.
\r\nHowever, Azattyk reports, that those users that were not involved in false\r\nreports, but commented on the problem with Kazakh textbooks were summoned to\r\nAstana police for interrogations.
\r\n«It was a bright example when civil\r\nactivist Kazbek Beisebayev was summoned to the internal affairs department for\r\nasking if anyone would be responsible for low quality of the textbooks in his\r\nFacebook comment», - Radio Azattyk reports.
\r\nIn the middle of October five social\r\nnetworks users - Aigerim Bolat, Dmitry Boldyrev, Yuri Dorokhov, Nurken\r\nHalykbergen, Andrei Zubov - were summoned to the Almaty Department of Internal\r\nAffairs and were recognised as witnesses with the right of defense in the case\r\nof dissemination of false information, initiated by the application of the\r\nMinistry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
\r\nThe actions of the Ministry of\r\nEducation and investigative bodies have provoked a wave of criticism in the\r\nKazakh segment of the Internet. The users were believed to be summoned for interrogations\r\nnot for distribution of false information, but for criticizing low-quality\r\ntextbooks.
\r\nOn October 20, the adviser of the\r\nMinister of Education and Science, Mayrash Taykenova, wrote in Facebook:\r\n\"In my opinion, there was just some misunderstanding, and I personally\r\ncontacted Nurken, Andrei, Yuri to say again - guys, MES is not against\r\ncriticism - we only welcome sound critisim, but we are against the social\r\nnetworking boom about what what is happening with the education system in\r\ngeneral and with textbooks in particular! \"
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The criminal proceedings initiated by the\r\npolice against the reporter of the radio Azattyk Sanat Urnaliev under the\r\narticle \"Hooliganism\" were ceased for lack of corpus delicti.
\r\nThe Abay division of the Department\r\nof Internal Affairs of the West Kazakhstan region notified the reporter of\r\nradio Azattyk Sanat Urnaliev that the case under article\r\n\"Hooliganism\" (Article 257 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of\r\nKazakhstan) against him, initiated by \r\nUralsk citizen Sergei Bayramov, was ceased for lack of corpus delicti.
\r\nAs it was reported it was the case\r\nof confronttion of the journalist with two young men during which they provoked\r\nhim to fight in every possible way. After one of them - Sergei Bakasov\r\nreceived a slap in the face, the guys went away. After that, Bakasov went to\r\nthe hospital, where he received medial certificate of beatings and reported\r\nSanat Urnaliev to the police departmet. Later Bakasov told Urnaliev that it was\r\na provocation arranged by his comrade\r\nNamik Bayramov. After the confession, Bakasov withdrew his complaint from police. The same day Namik Bayramov filed\r\nsimilar report to the police.
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The court\r\nrejected the lawsuit of the deputy governor of the Amlalinsky district of\r\nAlmaty, Yermek Beiseuov to website Rezonans.kz and its editor Rozlan Taukina.
\r\nThe\r\nreason for the investigation was the article \"House with Chimeras\",\r\npublished on the internet portal on September 20, 2016. The author told that\r\none of the buildings was transfered from the city proprerty to cynological NGO.
\r\nThe\r\nplaintiff litigated following passage of the article: \"All these amazing things\r\nthat are happening to the city property are possible just because they are\r\nunder control of the deputy governor of Almalinsky district of Ermek Beyseuov\r\n\".
\r\nE.\r\nBeyseuov explained that he could not be involed in any actions with the building\r\nthat was transferred to the cynologial NGO is 1996 when he was a schoolboy and\r\nin the actons with the respective land plot since at the time it was registered\r\nby authorities, he was a university student.
\r\nE.\r\nBeiseuov asked the court to declare the article to be discrediting false information,\r\nand to oblige the defendants to publish a rectraction.
\r\nThe\r\ndefendants did not agree with the suit. They explained to the court that the\r\nscreenshot of the article presented by the plaintiff did not match to the original\r\npublication, may be changed and could not be accepted as evidence.
\r\nThe\r\ncourt agreed with the defendants since the copy of the article presented by the\r\nplaintiff was not confirmed by a notary, so it could not be a reliable and\r\nadmissible evidence.
\r\nAccording\r\nto R. Karymsakova, associate professor of the department of journalism and\r\ntranslation of the University of Turan, the article contains negative\r\ninformation about the plaintiff, but it is expressed in the form of two\r\nsubjective assesments that could not be\r\nverified for compliance to the reality.
\r\nOn\r\nOctober 19, the court dismissed E. Beiseuv’s complaints.
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4 criminal charges were brought againt\r\nmedia and citizens in connection with the exercise of the right to freedom of\r\nexpression, the receipt and dissemination of information in October
\r\n55 trial and pre-tiral criminal\r\ncharges were brought in connection with the exercise of the right to\r\nfreedom of expression, instruction and dissemination of information since the\r\nbeginning of the year.
\r\n3 judicial acts were issued on cases of\r\nprotection of honor, dignity and business reputation (including 3 in appeal) in\r\nOctober. Two of them were in favor of the media, journalists and citizens.
\r\n66 letters before action and claims for\r\nprotection of honor, dignity and business reputation were filed in connection\r\nwith the exercise of the right to freedom of expression since the beginning of\r\nthe year. Claims for compensation for moral damage from the beginning of the\r\nyear amounted to 194 million 960 thousand tenge. The courts collected 54\r\nmillion 20 thousand tenge.
\r\nThe monitoring was done according to\r\nreports of the Adil Soz Foundation\'s correspondents
and information from open sources.
Head of monitoring service of Adil Soz\r\nFoundation Elena Tsoi
e-mail: lena@adilsoz.kz
For all questions regarding the monitoring, you may also contact
info@adilsoz.kz
