Violations of Freedom of Speech in Kazakhstan February 2021

The International Foundation for the Protection of\r\nFreedom of Speech \"Adil Soz\" conducted a study of the situation with\r\nthe right to freedom of expression, receipt and dissemination of information in\r\nKazakhstan in February 2021.

It reports:

- \"Uralskaya\r\nNedelya\" reporters were detained by police for several times throughout\r\nthe day when they went to  Atyrau to\r\ncover the release of political prisoner Maks Bokayev. The editor-in-chief of\r\n\"Uralskaya Nedelya\" held a one-man picket outside the police\r\nbuilding, protesting against the actions of the police.

In early morning of February 3, Lukpan\r\nAkhmedyarov the editor-in-chief of the \"Uralskaya Nedelya\" newspaper,\r\nhis deputy Raul Uporov and a cameraman headed to Atyrau cover the release of\r\nMaks Bokayev, that was scheduled for February 4.  Police officers drove to their car on the\r\nhighway, detained Akhmedyarov and took him to the Abai police station of\r\nUralsk.

In order to do that police organized a traffic\r\njam on the highway under the pretext of severe weather events. As soon as\r\npolice detained Akhmedyrov, it allowed traffic on the highway.

The journalist spent 3 hours at the police\r\nstation. and the investigator did not ask him a single question for all those\r\ntime.

An hour after detention of Lukpan Akhmedyarov,\r\nthe police detained Raul Uporov, the deputy editor of the \"Uralskaya\r\nNedelya\".

The formal reason was that the journalists\'\r\ndriver was suspected in a car accident that took place  earlier the same day in Uralsk. So the car\r\nwas wanted by police.

The driver was taken to the village of\r\nChapaevo to give explanations. Raul and Isatay (cameraman) caught a ride and continued\r\ndriving. About 20 km further a police patrol car  stopped them. According to the policeman,\r\nthere was a claim that the car is used for illegal taxi services.

The polce took \r\nexplanatory notes from the passengers but did not let the car driving\r\nunder various pretexts.

On February 3, Lukpan Akhmedyarov made a\r\nstatement near the building of the Abay police department in Uralsk. He was\r\noutraged by the actions of the police, that for the whole day impeded  \"Uralskaya Nedelya\" from traveling\r\nto Atyrau, where Maks Bokaev was to be released from prison. The\r\neditor-in-chief stated that he considers the actions of the police as impeding\r\nhis professional activities, and hold a one-man picket in front of the building\r\nof the police department with a banner \"Police or Gestapo?\" After\r\nthat, the journalist was immediately taken to the police department. He was\r\ncharged for violation of the rules for the beautification of the territories of\r\ncities and towns, as well as the destruction of infrastructure.

- Ministry of Information\r\nand Public Development has published the draft Rules for the Accreditation of\r\nJournalists. Human rights activists believe that the new requirements will\r\nlimit the rights of journalists.

Human rights activists propose to exclude the\r\nterm \"moderator\" from the conceptual structure of the Rules, since\r\nthe Law \"On Mass Media\" does not contain such a concept and the Rules\r\nis a subordinate act and should not introduce new concepts and broad\r\ninterpretations. The same can be said about the Note that stipulates  that the editor-in-chief and (or ) the\r\nauthorized representative of the editorial office must ensure that the\r\naccredited journalist observes public order, the subject (content) of the\r\nevent, as well as the requirements of the event moderator.

The conditions under whih a journalist would\r\nbe deprived of accreditation were criticized as well. Human rights activists\r\nbelieve that the provision on depriving a journalist  of accreditation for  dissemination of false information should be\r\nsupplemented with the phrase \"that is confirmed by a court decision that\r\nhas entered into legal force.\" It is also proposed to introduce the right\r\nto appeal the deprivation of accreditation to a higher authorized body and (or)\r\nin court.

- The European\r\nParliament adopted a resolution urging the government of Kazakhstan to act in\r\naccordance with its international obligations and to respect human rights and\r\nfundamental freedoms.

MEPs call on the government of Kazakhstan to\r\ndrop politically motivated charges and put an end to all forms of arbitrary\r\ndetention, repression and harassment against human rights defenders, religious\r\norganizations, civil society organizations, trade unions, journalists and\r\npolitical opposition movements. They called the government of Kazakhstan to let\r\npeople to freely express their political, religious and other views.

The European Parliament also called on the\r\nKazakh authorities to stop using the criminal code against activists, bloggers,\r\njournalists and others for exercising their right to freedom of expression and\r\nto provide free and safe conditions for independent journalists. It expressed\r\nregret over the alarming state of media freedom in the country.

Four  judicial acts was  issued against media in connection with the\r\nexercise of the right to freedom of expression , the receipt and dissemination\r\nof information in February 2021. Three of them were \r\nin  favor of defendants.

The\r\nfollowing charges were filed  in\r\nconnection with the exercise of the right to freedom of expression:

- 5 civil  claims and lawsuits (four of them for\r\nprotection of honor, dignity and business reputation). Claims for compensation\r\nfor non-pecuniary damage amounted to 5 million tenge. The courts collected 50  thousand   tenge.

- 4  administrative charges

The\r\nfollowing charges were filed since the beginning of the year:

- 1  criminal charge (none  in court).

- 10  claims and suits in civil procedure (nine of\r\nthem for protection of honor, dignity and business reputation. Claims for\r\ncompensation for non-pecuniary damage amounted to 16  million tenge. The courts collected 5 million\r\n50 thousand  tenge.

- 6  administrative charges

The monitoring was done according to reports of the\r\nAdil Soz Foundation\'s

Head of monitoring service of Adil Soz Foundation

Elena Tsoi
\r\ne-mail: lena@adilsoz.kz

For all monitoring questions, you\r\ncan also contact info@adilsoz.kz