Violations of Freedom of Speech in Kazakhstan September 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 September 2021.

Itreports:

- On September 15, the\r\nMazhilis (lower chamber) of the Parliament approved in the first reading the\r\ndraft law \"On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts on the\r\nProtection of Rights of a Child\".

The chairman of the\r\nmajilis of parliament Nurlan Nigmatullin noted in debating the bill that it is\r\nnecessary to strengthen responsibility for bullying and cyberbullying of\r\nminors.

The draft law contains\r\na number of norms that make it possible to restrict the work of foreign\r\nInternet platforms, social networks and messengers on the territory of\r\nKazakhstan in case the owners of such resources do not register with Kazakhstan\r\nauthorities or do not open a representative office in Kazakhstan. At the same\r\ntime, the heads of the branches (representative offices) cannot be foreigners\r\nor stateless persons ”. The heads of the branches are obliged to fulfill the\r\norder on taking measures to remove or restrict the dissemination of illegal\r\ninformation within  24 hours or less.

Human rights activists,\r\njournalists and civil society oppose the adoption of these amendments and\r\nbelieve that the adoption of this norm will lead to such negative consequences\r\nas limiting the rights to receive and disseminate information, the right to use\r\nthe Internet.

- Journalists Islambek\r\nDastan (Orda.kz, Turaninfo.kz) and Daniyar Alimkul (Channel 7) are in\r\ntestimonial capacity in the case of disseminating deliberately false\r\ninformation initiated because of  the\r\nvideo related to the explosions on the territory of a military unit in the\r\nBaizak district of the Zhambyl region on August 26 .

The investigation began\r\nafter the regional internal policy department discovered a video while\r\nmonitoring the internet. The video was related to the explosions on the\r\nterritory of a military unit in the Bayzak district of the Zhambyl region on\r\nAugust 26. The information was provided “to the relevant authorities for a legal\r\nassessment”.

Islambek Dastan,\r\nreporter of Orda.kz  and\r\nTuraninfo.kz,  happened to be in the\r\narea  when  explosions occured and started taking a\r\nvideo. During the interrogation, the police asked him about his purpose for\r\ntaking a video, way he got to that area, the words he was saying and whether\r\nthere were any calls to leave the area. The police also monitored the video\r\nthat the journalist made and what he said on the video.

In his video, Daniyar\r\nAlimkul , \"Channel 7\" reporter, showed objects similar to military\r\nshells that were lying on the ground in the open air on the territory near a\r\nrestaurant in the Bayzak district of the Zhambyl region. According to\r\nInformburo, Daniyar Alimkul tried to find out from the restaurant employees\r\nwhere those objects came from. One of them said she didn’t know and escorted\r\nthe reporter out to the street. Coming out with him, she noted that there were\r\nall the documents for those objects, and the military prosecutor\'s office came\r\nand checked it. Than she assumed that the shells were brought from Arys.

On September 23 Begman\r\nKutmurzayev, acting spokesman for the Zhambyl Oblast Police Department,  told \r\nRadio Azattyk reporter that the legal case of “disseminating\r\ndeliberately false information” initiated in connection with explosions at a\r\nmilitary warehouse in Zhambyl Oblast would be dropped  for the lack of corpus delicti.

- On September 28, the\r\njournalists of Kazakhstan again addressed an open letter to the President of\r\nthe Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, the General Prosecutor of\r\nthe Republic of Kazakhstan Gizat Nurdauletov, and the Prime Minister of the\r\nRepublic of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin about violations  of the rights of journalists to access\r\ninformation by the state bodies.

The letter says that\r\nsince April last year, when a lockdown was introduced due to COVID-19,\r\njournalists have been deprived of the opportunity to fulfill their duties in\r\nfull. Press conferences and briefings by state agencies and parliament were\r\nheld online, that   affected the work of\r\nthe media in negative way. Entry into the buildings of state bodies was\r\nprohibited, it was not always possible to ask all questions at online\r\nevents,  journalistsoften were “turned\r\noff” from the air on the pretext of technical problems.

Journalists draw\r\nattention to the fact that \"the openness of state bodies is the key to the\r\neffectiveness, accountability and transparency of the government, a strong\r\ncivil society and an effective fight against corruption.\"

- On September 29, the\r\nCentral Communications Service (CCS) under the President of the Republic of\r\nKazakhstan announced the resumption of the work of the press center in offline\r\nmode.

No more than 15 people\r\nwill be admitted to the press center, including journalists and cameramen. The\r\nlist of journalists will be made by the CCS for each event on the \"first\r\ncome, first served\"  principle, only\r\nthe first 15 people who booked thier participation  in the WhatsApp chat \"Briefing CCS\"\r\nwill be allowed to participate offline.

Questions can be asked offline and online via ZOOM. The turn is\r\ndefined  by the CCS, in accordance witht\r\nthe reservation in CCS  chat. Offilne\r\njournalist, online Zoom and moderator ask questions in turns. The number of questions\r\nis limited - two questions per journalist.

5 judicial acts was issued against media in connection\r\nwith the exercise of the right to freedom of expression , the receipt and\r\ndissemination of information in\r\nSeptember 2021. Four of them were in favor of defendants.

The following charges were filed in connection with\r\nthe exercise of the right to freedom of expression:

- 1 criminal charge (0 in court)

- 3 civil claims and lawsuits (3 of them for\r\nprotection of honor, dignity and business reputation).

The following charges were filed since the beginning\r\nof the year:

- 24 criminal charges (10 in court).

- 50 claims and suits in civil procedure (47 of them\r\nfor protection of honor, dignity and business reputation).

Claims for compensation for non-pecuniary damage\r\namounted to 26 million 700 thousands tenge. The courts collected 1 million 290\r\nthousand tenge.

- 25 administrative charges

The monitoring is based on the reports of the Adil Soz\r\nFoundation\'s and publicly available information

Head of monitoring service of Adil Soz Foundation

Elena Tsoi e-mail: lena@adilsoz.kz

For all monitoring questions, you can also contact\r\ninfo@adilsoz.kz