The\r\nInternational Foundation for the Protection of Freedom of Speech Adil Soz made\r\na study of the situation with the right to freedom of expression, receipt and\r\ndissemination of information in Kazakhstan in November 2017.

It\r\nreports:

- The head of the Union of Journalists\r\nof Kazakhstan Seitkazy Matayev will be released on parole.

On November 16, Kapshagai\r\ncity court of Almaty region has satisfied the motion on parole of Seitkazy\r\nMatayev, head of the Union of Journalists of Kazakhstan. According to his\r\nlawyer Madina Bakiyeva the court\'s ruling will come in legal power in 15\r\ncalendar days if it is not protested.

The head of the Union of Journalists\r\nwas sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment on October 3, 2016 on charges of\r\nevading taxes and fraud. Seitkazy Mataev did not plead guilty.

- On November 22 deputies of the\r\nMajilis of the Parliament passed the bill \"On\r\namendments into some legal acts of Kazakhstan on information and\r\ncommunications\" on the second reading. Human rights activists believe\r\na number of its provisions seriously contradict international standards.

The bill introduces, in particular,\r\nadditional mens of control over social networks commentators and other Internet\r\nusers, the procedure for providing information becomes more complicated, the period\r\nfor giving answers to journalists\' requests is increased from three to seven\r\nworking days. Amendments to the media law will oblige journalists to obtain\r\nconsent to the disclosure of personal and family secrets, although these\r\nconcepts do not have an exact legal content.

The bill introduces the notion of\r\n\"information infringing upon legitimate rights and interests\".

- Almaty resident Shukhrat Kibirov\r\nwas sentenced to six years and 8 months of imprisonment on charges of inciting\r\nreligious hatred and the propaganda of terrorism. The convicted pleades not\r\nguilty.

Nashidy (religious songs) in Arabic\r\nand Chechen, published in 2014 in the social network \"VKontakte\" on\r\nthe user\'s page of \"Alim Akhmetov” encouraged prosecution According to the\r\ninvestigation bodies Shukhrat Kibirov registered that page by his phone under\r\nthe nickname \"Alim Akhmetov”.

Kibirov’s lawyer Galym Nurpeisov disagred\r\nwith the verdict of the court as well. According to him, the court did not grat\r\na single petition during the investigation and the take the evidence.

Galym Nurpeisov told radio Azattyk\r\nreporter that the witness was under pressure while giving his testimony that\r\nthe account \"Alim Akhmetov\" in soicial network \"VKontakte\" belonged\r\nto Kibirov and that he was in personal correspondence with him on the social\r\nnetwork. \"During the next court hearing, the witness told that he was\r\nthere by National Security Committee officers and that he withdraws his\r\ntestimony. The prosecutor heard all that, but did not say a word, \"said\r\nthe lawyer.

The sentence will be appealed.

- The Board of Appeal overturned the\r\ndecision of the Medeu district court of Almaty that upheld in part the claim of\r\nJSC \"K-Dorstroy\" to Ratel.kz and Forbes.

The plaintiff asked the court to recognize\r\ncontradicting the reality and defaming business reputation information\r\ndissimitated:

- By Vitaly Protsentov (former head\r\nof Avtodorservis JSC) at a press conference in Almaty on July 12, 2016;

- By Alexander Vorotilov in seven\r\npublications on the Forbes Kazakhstan website from July 12, 2016 to September\r\n16, 2016;

- In seven publications on the site\r\nRatel.kz. in the period from May 20, 2016 to December 16, 2016.

Besdies he demanded to oblige defendants\r\nto refute publicly the dissiminated information and to completely delete the\r\ndisputable articles from the websites.

On July 21, the court ordered the\r\ndefendants to publicly refute the article \"Rims on the runway\"\r\npublished on March 15, 2017, delete it from the website of Ratel.kz and\r\nreimburse the plaintiff for legal expenses in the amount of 11345 tenge he had\r\npaid as state duty.

The defendants disageered with the\r\ncourt decision and appealed to the Almaty city court with a request to cancel\r\nit and to reject the claim in full, since the court of first instance did not\r\ntake into account the fact that the defendants expressed their opinion without any\r\ndefamation and insult that  was confirmed\r\nby the expert\'s conclusion.

  The case was forwarded for\r\nretrial by a different panel of judges.

2 criminal charges were brought\r\nagaint media and citizens in connection with the exercise of the right to\r\nfreedom of expression, the receipt and dissemination of information in\r\nNovember. 

55 trial and pre-tiral criminal charges were  brought in connection\r\nwith the exercise of the right to freedom of expression, instruction and\r\ndissemination of information since the beginning of the year.

5 judicial acts were issued on\r\ncases of protection of honor, dignity and business reputation (including 3 in\r\nappeal) in November. Four of them were in favor of the media, journalists and\r\ncitizens.

70  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 195 million 460 thousand tenge. The courts collected 54\r\nmillion 20 thousand tenge. 

The monitoring was done\r\naccording to reports of the Adil Soz Foundation\'s correspondents 
\r\nand information from open sources.

Head of monitoring service\r\nof Adil Soz Foundation Elena Tsoi
\r\ne-mail: lena@adilsoz.kz

For all questions regarding\r\nthe  monitoring, you may also contact
\r\ninfo@adilsoz.kz