Violations of freedom of speech in Kazakhstan December, 2018

The\r\nInternational Foundation for the Protection of Freedom of Speech \"Adil\r\nSoz\" conducted a study of the situation with the right to freedom of\r\nexpression, receipt and dissemination of information in Kazakhstan in December\r\n2018.

It reports:

- On December 16-17, on the\r\nIndependence Day of Kazakhstan, Internet users reported on several dozens  civil activists, bloggers, journalists\r\ndetained by police. Police checked mobile phones of the most of the detainees\r\nand interrogated them, trying to find a connection with the Decmocratic Choice\r\nof Kazakhstan,  that court declared an\r\nextremist organization.

In the morning of December 16, on the\r\nIndependence Day of Kazakhstan, Raul Uporov and Maria Melnikova, correspondents\r\nof Uralsk Week, were detained on the street. Raul was taken to the police for\r\ninvestigative actions under art. 405 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of\r\nKazakhstan (Organization and participation in activity of public or religious\r\nassociation or other organization after court decision on prohibition of their\r\nactivity or liquidation in connection with carrying out by them the extremism\r\nor terrorism).

Maria Melnikova was\r\ndetained near the box office of N. Ostrovsky Drama Theater. The journalist told\r\nAdil Soz: “Two people came up - Abishev, the police officer of the district\r\nwhere I live that is quite far away from the theater and  Martynov, detective. They said \"We have\r\ncome for you.\" They did not explain the reasons of thier demands, did not\r\nshow any documents but tried  to take me\r\nto an investigator the city police department.

I was not informed\r\nabout  the investigator’s name, the\r\ncharges, or the reasons. I demanded to show a document, a summons, a\r\nfoundation, but thre policemen provided nothing. Then  six more \r\npeople in the uniform came to us, they did not introduce themselves but\r\nsurrounded me and demanded to go with them. They fraternized with me. Then two\r\npolicemen (one of them - Abishev) grabbed my arms, the third one  pushed me in the back and dragged to the\r\npolice car.

We were taken to the\r\nAbay district police department. Investigator Sariev was not giving any\r\nexplanations for about an hour, did not talk to me - he just walked around the\r\nroom. He even did not said anything about the reason for my detention. I\r\ndemanded to draw the protocol of detention. The second investigator who was in\r\nthe same room and whose name I could not find out  said: “If you were detained, you would be put\r\nin a cell immediately.” About half an hour later they brought the booking protocol.\r\nI expressed my disagreement, but I could not get a copy - they just did not\r\ngive it to me.

I was asked questions about\r\nthe activities of the banned organization Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan –\r\nwhether I joined the organization’s chats, whether I know its activists, etc.\r\nWhen I asked what was the case the interrogation related to, I didn’t get the answer.\r\nAll I know is that is was under Article 405 of the Criminal Code of the\r\nRepublic of Kazakhstan. At the same time, the second investigator (he commented\r\nthe interrogation) noted that “For the time being you are a witness in the case...\r\nand the charges are serious – the punishment is up to six years of imprisonment\r\n...” I spent about three hours in the police department. ”

The chief editor of\r\nUralsk Week, Lukpan Akhmedyarov, and the publisher, Tamara Yeslyamova, told\r\nthat they were in their apartments and the police officers were on duty at the\r\nentrances of their houses. On December 16-17, at least 10 people could not\r\nleave their homes for the same reason - police officers guarded the houses.

Civil society\r\nactivists reported that detention of journalists and human rights activists\r\ncontinued in Almaty on December 17 when they tried   to lay flowers at the Independence Memorial.\r\n“The chief reader of the newspaper“ DAT - Social position ” Yermurat Bapi was\r\ndetained. Journalist Miras Nurmukhanbetov managed to leave after his documents\r\nwere checked. Human rights activist Yerlan Kaliev was detained. Gulzhan\r\nYergaliyeva wrote that, according to Rysbek Sarsenbayuly, Kystaubaev and\r\nSundetkaliyev were detained, and she \r\ndecided to lay flowers later in order not to share the same fate.

The Bureau of Human\r\nRights reported: “At least 40 people were detained, taken to the city\r\ndepartment or district departments of internal affairs and subjected to absurd\r\ninterrogations on these two days. At the same time, those detentions were not\r\nrelated with breaking up of an unauthorized rally or the suppression of an\r\nattempt to conduct one. ”

- The court rejected the suit of\r\nSemey Ainasy news that demanded to rule illegal the actions of  Shakarim State University (Semey). The\r\njournalists appealed the university’s rector refusal to provide information on\r\nthe fulfillment of the order for \r\npreparation and publication of information materials in media.

On\r\nDecember 14, the judge of the Specialized Inter-District Economic Court of the\r\nEast Kazakhstan Region, Z. Izenbaeva, rejected the suit of Semey Aynasy news\r\nagency (founded by the Semipalatinsk City Association of Young Journalists)\r\nthat demanded to rule illegal the ations of Semey State University.

As\r\nit was reported, the editors appeal the refusal of the university rector to\r\nprovide information on the realization of the lot declared by the university\r\nfor  preparation and publication of\r\ninformation materials in  media\r\n(journalists learnt about it on the public procurement website\r\ngoszakup.gov.kz).

The\r\neditors asked the rector to tell where and when information materials were\r\npublished and asked for the links to the publications. The refusal to provide\r\ninformation was explained by the fact that the Internet resource on which the\r\nlot was placed is not  a mass  media unit, therefore, the information about\r\nthe lot does not refer to official messages and is not subject to the Law “On\r\nAccess to Information”.

 At the court hearing, a representative of the\r\nuniversity named a completely different reason: they allegedly did not know that\r\nthe news agency was a media unit though the journalist’s request or information\r\ncontained  the number and the date of the\r\ncertificate of registration of   “Semey\r\nAynasy”news agency).

- Both the civil and criminal\r\nproceedings against the resident of the village of Miyauly, teacher Aygul\r\nMuksanova finished in the Kyzylkoginsky District Court of Atyrau Oblast with a\r\ntwo-day difference.

The reason for the conflict was the post of A. Muksanova on Facebook, in\r\nwhich she complained about the quality of food in the school cafeteria, but did\r\nnot indicate who was the food supplier. The post was illustrated with photos\r\ntaken on October 19th.

The food supplier, an independed entrepreneur, Meruert Nurmagambetova,\r\nconsidered that the soical network post humiliated  her honor, dignity and\r\nbusiness reputation and demanded to declare the information to be untrue,\r\nrefute it and collect from A. Muksanova 2768900 tenge as compensation for\r\nemotional distress. When Aigul refused to sign the settlement agreement\r\nproposed by the plaintiff, the businesswoman accused the teacher of defamation\r\nusing social networks (part 2 of article 130 of the Criminal Code of the\r\nRepublic of Kazakhstan stipulating punishment ranging from a fine to two years\r\nin prison).

On December 25, judge A. Dosmagambetova ruled in a civil case: to \r\nsatisfy the lawsuit partially, to oblige A. Muksanova to refute the information\r\nby making her apologize and collect 30 thousand tenge from her as compensation\r\nof emotinal distress of the plaintiff N. Nurmagambetova. The plaintiff should\r\nbe charged 24,627 tenge of stamp duty.

On December 27, Judge A. Dosmagambetova issued a verdict for the same\r\nconflict: to acquit Aygul Muksanova for lack of corpus delicti.

6 judicial acts\r\nwere issued against media and citizens in connection with the exercise of the\r\nright to freedom of expression , the receipt and dissemination of information\r\non cases of protection of honor, dignity and business reputation (including 1\r\ncassation and 2 in appeal) in December. Two of them were in favor of the media,\r\njournalists and citizens.

The following actions chrges were\r\nfiled since the beginning of the year in connection with the exercise of the\r\nright to freedom of expression:

- 52 criminal charges, including\r\n28 in court.

- 74\r\nclaims and suits in civil procedure. Among them, 62 claims and lawsuits for\r\nprotection of honor, dignity and business reputation.

- Claims\r\nfor compensation for non-pecuniary damage amounted to 245 million 300 thousand and\r\n1 tenge in January-October. The courts collected 570 thousand tenge.

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

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

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