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 2022.
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Itreports:
\r\n- Sanzhar Adilov, the\r\nhead of the investigative department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the\r\nRepublic of Kazakhstan, said at a\r\nbriefing at the Central Communication Service that an \"information war for the control over the public consciousness\r\nof citizens\" began after the January riots in Kazakhstan.
\r\nJournalists claim that\r\nstate bodies are not open to media, provide incomplete and concise information,\r\nno questions allowed at the briefings:
\r\n- Vlast reporter Tamara\r\nVaal told about the unavaiablity of officials in her Facebook account: “In\r\nfact, you make the hearing state deaf,\r\nblind and lame. Journalists are still not allowed into the building of the\r\ngovernment under pretext of the orders of the special medial officer that\r\nis responsible for specially protected\r\nobjects\".
\r\nThe journalist uses the\r\nweekly briefings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs “where no questions\r\nallowed” as an example.
\r\n“Well, journalists\'\r\n\"most favorite\" briefings in the Central Communication Service are\r\nthe ones with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General’s\r\nOffice . The topic is hot, we still do not know the names of the dead, the\r\nnumber of affected civilians. But they\r\ncome out to briefings at the end of the working day (just so that no one would\r\nlisten) with the same statements. No questions allowed. Though there are a lot\r\nof questions that should be asked” .
\r\n- On February 16,\r\nZhanat Eshmagambetov, Chairman of the Committee of the Penal System (CPS) of\r\nthe Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, held a briefing \"On the conditions of detention of\r\npersons under investigation and arrest in the institutions of the correctional\r\nsystem.\" Zh. Eshmagambetov stated\r\nthat information on tortures of January rioters \r\nin the pre-trial detention center \r\n\"do not correspond to reality, mislead the public and distort the\r\nreal picture of what was happening.\"
\r\nJjournalists were\r\ndeprived of the opportunity to ask questions. Meanwhile, journalists note that\r\nthe statement of the chairman of the committee on the absence of torture\r\ncontradicts the reports of representatives of official bodies and public\r\ncommissions, Radio Azattyk reports.
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- The Vice-President\r\nof Alina Group LLP demanded that Forbes Kazakhstan provide information about\r\nthe owner of the Alina group of companies Yerlik Balfanbaev, as well as about\r\nhis company, “including all its subsidiaries and affiliates in articles, ratings\r\n, reviews, etc. for approval before publishing it, otherwise legal prosecution\r\nwill follow.
\r\nA warning letter was\r\nsent to the editorial office by e-mail.
\r\nThe day after the article “Kazakhstani millionaire forbids\r\nForbes to write about him without permission” was published, (Forbes.kz,\r\n02/07/2022), the editor received an open letter “to all interested media in the\r\nRepublic of Kazakhstan from Alina Group President Yerlik Balfanbaev”.
\r\n“My request to provide\r\narticles containing my name and the Company for approval is caused just by the\r\ndesire to prevent distortion of facts. For example, in an article published in\r\n2015 it was mentioned that we received\r\nfunds from the state. In fact, all the money that the Company received was\r\npresented at interest from second-tier banks as loans, and there had never been\r\nany gratuitous support,” writes E. Balfanbaev.
\r\nThe journalists found\r\nthe article Yerlik Balfanbaev referred\r\nto. The article told about the meeting between the head of state and the\r\nleaders of the champion companies. It cited the words of the president of the\r\nAlina group of companies about receiving funds from the Baiterek holding (100%\r\nstate holding) to expand production and replenish working capital. There were\r\nno other references to Balfanbaev in the article.
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- Exclusive.kz editor-in-chief\r\nKarlygash Yezhenova is threatened with \"illegal measures\"
\r\nOn the\r\nevening of February 25, Exclusive.kz posted on its YouTube channel the second\r\npart of the documentary “Shocking Asia. Nuclear Billions”. The movie tells about\r\ncorruption in the construction of the Department of Radioisotope Diagnostics\r\nand Therapy of the Center for Nuclear Medicine and Oncology in Semey. Before\r\nthe release of the film, the editor-in-chief of Exclusive.kz Karlygash Yezhenova received threats.
\r\n“A week and\r\na half ago, we posted a trailer for the second part of the journalistic\r\ninvestigation, and received messages and\r\ncalls to to delete the trailer and not\r\nto post the film. I said that we would post it, and if there are any complaints\r\nabout the content, we are ready to discuss them and to provide our opponents\r\nthe opportunity to express their views. We were told that there wouldn\'t be any\r\ndiscussions, no counterevidences, and illegal measures would be taken against\r\nus. I wanted to clarify what that meant exactly and they hinted that there\r\nwould be at least DDOS attacks,” said Karlygash Yezhenova.
\r\nExclusive.kz\r\ncan only guess what other illegal measures they are to expect.
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- Kazakhstan is\r\nclassified as a country with an authoritarian regime in the Democracy Index 2021.
\r\nThe research division\r\nof the British company The Economist Group - Economist Intelligence Unit has\r\npublished \"Democracy Index 2021\".
\r\nThe index is based on\r\n60 indicators grouped into five different categories - electoral process and pluralism,\r\ngovernment performance, political participation, political culture and civil\r\nliberties.
\r\nKazakhstan ranked 128\r\nout of 167 and is classified as a country with an authoritarian regime.
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The following charges were filed in connection with\r\nthe exercise of the right to freedom of expression in February 2022:
\r\n- 3 criminal charge (0 in court)
\r\n- 3 civil claims and lawsuits (3 of them for\r\nprotection of honor, dignity and business reputation).
\r\nThe following charges were filed since the beginning of the year:
\r\n- 6 criminal charges (10 in court).
\r\n- 3 claims and suits in civil procedure (all of them\r\nfor protection of honor, dignity and business reputation).
\r\nClaims for compensation for non-pecuniary damage\r\namounted to 1 million tenge. The courts collected 50 thousand tenge.
\r\n- 8 administrative charges, including 7 related to\r\nJanuary riots (7 of them in court)
\r\nThe monitoring is based on the reports of the Adil Soz\r\nFoundation\'s and publicly available information
\r\nHead of monitoring service of Adil Soz Foundation
\r\nElena Tsoi e-mail: lena@adilsoz.kz
\r\nFor all monitoring questions, you can also contact\r\ninfo@adilsoz.kz
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