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 October\r\n2019.
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Itreports:
\r\n- Campaign in defense\r\nof journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov sentenced to imprisonment. Human rights\r\nactivists made statements demanding the court system of Kazakhstan to overturn\r\nthe 27-month conviction.
\r\nOn\r\nSeptember 23 court sentenced civil activist, editor of the newspaper Saryagash\r\nInfo Amangeldy Batyrbekov to two years and 3 months in prison, finding him\r\nguilty of libel and insult (Article 130, Article 131 of the Criminal Code of\r\nthe Republic of Kazakhstan). The private prosecutor was Bakhtiyar Abdiev, the\r\nhead of the education department of the Keles region, about whom Batyrbekov\r\npublished a post on his Facebook page\r\nentitled “Kelestegi kenkelestik” (“Idiocy in Keles”).
\r\nOn October\r\n14, the International Foundation\r\nfor Protection of Freedom of Speech Adil\r\nSoz issued a statement in defense of journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov.
\r\nAdil Soz\r\ndeclares: the imprisonment of journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov for expressing\r\nhis opinion grossly violates the country\'s obligations arising from\r\nKazakhstan\'s ratification of the International\r\nCovenant on Civil and Political Rights.
\r\n“We\r\nbelieve that judges of all levels considering cases of violations of personal\r\nnon-property rights should follow Art. 19 of the International Covenant on\r\nCivil and Political Rights, the application of which is clarified by General\r\nComment No. 34 of the UN Human Rights Committee, ”the statement says.
\r\nOn October\r\n18, the human rights organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), one of the\r\nworld\'s leading non-governmental organizations in the field of protecting and\r\npromoting freedom of information, included Amangeldy Batyrbekov in the list of\r\njournalists who were imprisoned in 2019 in connection with their journalistic\r\nwork: https://rsf.org/en/barometer?year=2019&type_id=235#list-barometre .
\r\nOn October\r\n22, RSF made a statement on the case of convicted Amangeldy Batyrbekov. RSF\r\nurged Kazakhstan’s court system to overturn the 27-month sentence of the\r\njournalist. The human rights organization again called on Kazakhstan to\r\ndecriminalize media crimes. In a widespread statement, RSF calls Batyrbekov’s\r\nverdict an another example of harassment of journalists by the country.
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- The responsibility for defamation remains\r\nunchanged in the draft law of the Republic of Kazakhstan \"On\r\nintroducing amendments and addenda to some legislative acts of the Republic of\r\nKazakhstan on the improvement of criminal and criminal procedure legislation\" .
\r\nAt the end of September, a draft Law\r\nof the Republic of Kazakhstan “On introducing amendments and addenda to some\r\nlegislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the improvement of criminal\r\nand criminal procedure legislation” was submitted to the Majilis of the\r\nParliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan. There are no proposals by the General\r\nProsecutor Office regarding Art. 130 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of\r\nKazakhstan (\"Defamation\") in the draft laws submitted to the parliament.
\r\nAs it was reported, the General\r\nProsecutor Office proposed the second\r\nparagraph of Part 1 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of\r\nKazakhstan (“Slander”) as follows: “is punished by a fine in the amount of up\r\nto two hundred monthly calculation indices, or by correctional labor in the\r\nsame amount, or by engaging in community service for up to two hundred hours or\r\narrest for up to fifty days”. Word \"corrupt\" in the first paragraph\r\nof the third part of Article 130 shall be deleted.The authors of the draft law\r\nexplained the exclusion of imprisonment from part 1 of article 130 by\r\nimplementing the recommendation No. 13 of the Istanbul OECD Action Plan for\r\nCombating Corruption for Eastern Europe and Central Asia for 2017-2020 on the\r\nneed to abolish criminal liability for defamation, insult and other similar\r\nacts.
\r\n5 judicial acts were issued against media and\r\ncitizens in connection with the exercise of the right to freedom of expression\r\n, the receipt and dissemination of information on cases of protection of honor,\r\ndignity and business reputation in October\r\n2019. Two of them were\r\nin favor of the media, journalists and citizens.
\r\nThe following charges were filed in connection with the exercise of the right\r\nto freedom of expression:
\r\n- 6 criminal charges, including 3 in\r\ncourt.
\r\n- 9 claims\r\nand suits in civil procedure. All of them - claims for protection of honor,\r\ndignity and business reputation.
\r\nClaims for compensation for non-pecuniary damage in October 2019 amounted to 24 million tenge.
\r\nThe following charges were filed\r\nsince the beginning of the year:
\r\n- 38 criminal charges.
\r\n- 61\r\nclaims and suits in civil procedure.
\r\nAmong\r\nthem, 54 claims and lawsuits for protection of honor, dignity and business\r\nreputation.
\r\n- Claims\r\nfor compensation for non-pecuniary damage amounted to 100 million tenge. The courts\r\ncollected 2 million 290 thousand tenge.
\r\n- 15 – administrative offence charges.
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The monitoring was done\r\naccording to reports of the Adil Soz Foundation\'s correspondents and\r\ninformation from open sources.
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Head of monitoring\r\nservice of Adil Soz Foundation Elena Tsoi
\r\ne-mail: lena@adilsoz.kz
\r\n
For all questions\r\nregarding the monitoring, you may also contact
\r\ninfo@adilsoz.kz
