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 July 2022.
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Itreports:
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- Makhambet Abzhan, the founder of the ABZHAN NEWS\r\nTelegram channel, was detained on suspicion of extortion. Observers suggest\r\nthat the journalist was \"set up\".
\r\nIn early morning of July 3, Makhambet Abzhan, the\r\nfounder of the telegram channel ABZHAN NEWS, was detained in Nur-Sultan.
\r\nAccording to the anti-corruption service, the\r\njournalist is suspected of extorting 50 million tenge from an entrepreneur for\r\nnon-dissemination of defamatory information. According to the anticorruption\r\nservice, Abzhan was caught red-handed and placed in the detention center of the\r\ncity of Nur-Sultan.
\r\nThe remarkable fact is that the money was transferred in the\r\nold-fashioned way, in cash and video of the detention was distibuted promptly.\r\nIt shows the policemen counting the banknotes in an emphatic manner and putting\r\nthem in the plastic bags prepared beforehand. Photos and videos immediately appeared from\r\nthe scene, and a press release was distributed almost immediately. This gives\r\nobservers reason to believe that the journalist was \"set up\" to stop\r\nhis investigations into the actions of high-ranking officials.
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- The Supreme Court fully acquitted\r\njournalists Seitkazy and Asset Matayevs
\r\nOn July 6 Lawyer Dzhokhar\r\nUtebekov shared good news - the Prosecutor General\'s Office filed a protest\r\nagainst the verdict against Seitkazy Matayev, the chairman of the Union of Journalists\r\nof the Republic of Kazakhstan, the president of the National Press Club, \r\nand Asset Matayev, the general director of the international news agency\r\nKazTAG. Heraings at the Supreme Court are supposed to be held in the next two\r\nweeks.
\r\nAs it was reported, on October 3, 2016, Seitkazy\r\nMatayev was sentenced to six years in prison, and Aset Mataev was sentenced to\r\nfive years in prison on economic crimes charges. Both of them did not plead\r\nguilty, and rebuted alll charges. A number of national and international\r\njournalistic and human rights organizations considered the criminal prosecution\r\nand the court verdict to be politically motivated. Seitkazy was released\r\non parole in December 2017, Aset was released in March 2018.
\r\nSince then, all petitions for reversal of the criminal\r\ncase were rejected by the highest courts. “I should admit that there are\r\ncertain changes in the socio-political situation of the country. Sure some\r\npositive changes were caused by judiciary reform, but to a much greater extent\r\nit is the result of changes in the political situation. Earlier Seitkazy\r\nMatayev had announced the names of his enemies before the court. And we all saw\r\nthe fall of those people recently,” Dzhokhar Utebekov commented on the protest\r\nof the Prosecutor General’s Office.
\r\nOn July 19, the\r\nCollegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court fully acquitted journalists\r\nSeitkazy and Asset Matayevs, reversed the decision of the Esil Court No. 2 and\r\nthe appellate instance of the Astana City Court for lack of corpus delicti and\r\nrehabilitated them in full. The Matayevs have the right to compensation\r\nfor damage caused by the illegal actions of the bodies involved in the\r\ninvestigation of the criminal case.
\r\nThe case was\r\nheard in the Supreme Court on the protest of the Prosecutor General of the\r\nRepublic of Kazakhstan, who requested to cancel the judicial acts issued\r\nagainst the Matayevs and send the case for a new trial to the court of\r\nappeal. In their turn Asset Matayev and\r\nlawyer A. Oralbay asked to satisfy the protest of the Prosecutor General in\r\npart - to cancel the judicial acts and dismiss charges due to the absence of\r\ncorpus delicti in the actions of the convicted.
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- Court hearings on\r\ncharges on attempted murder of the editor of \"Sary Agash info\"\r\nAmangeldy Batyrbekov began in Turkestan region
\r\nThe\r\nspecialized inter-district court for criminal cases of the Turkestan region\r\nbegan hearing the case against those suspected of attempted murder of\r\njournalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov, Ratel.kz reports.
\r\nFive people\r\nwere charged.
\r\nAccording\r\nto investigators, the suspect in ordering the murder is Bauyrzhan Mayrikhov,\r\nwho served as head of the education department of the Saryagash district of the\r\nTurkestan region.
\r\nPsychologist\r\nSabyrkhodzha Moldakhodzhaev, born in 1985, is suspected of finding and hiring\r\nkillers.
\r\nThree\r\nresidents of the region - Abdukhamid Kuandykov, born in 1988, Meirzhan\r\nDosbolov, born in 1996, Nurgali Kydyraliev, born in 2000 are involved in the\r\ncase as suspects in the attempted murder.
\r\nThe\r\ndefendants were also charged with a number of other crimes.
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- Journalist Olesya\r\nVertinskaya was attacked in Atyrau. Police reported detention of the suspect.
\r\nOn July 19, Olesya Vertinskaya, a reporter for the\r\nRoad Control news website, was attacked near the house where she lives. When\r\nshe left the house, an unknown young man approached her, asked for help, and\r\nthen hit her hard in the face. Olesya fell from the blow, and the attacker\r\nbegan to kick her. A passerby saved her and Olesya\'s son called an ambulance.\r\nComputed tomography revealed a displaced nasal fracture.
\r\nOlesya Vertinskaya filed a complaint with the police.
\r\nIt is noteworthy that a few days before the attack, on\r\nJuly 16, Olesya received a message from a hidden number that said strongly\r\nadvised her to \"be careful\" with a certain LLP and its owner. On the\r\nsame day, Olesya filed a complaint to the prosecutor\'s office saying that she\r\nwas threatened, and she feared for her life.
\r\nOn July 22, the press service of the Atyrau\r\nRegion Police Department announced that it identified and detained a suspect -\r\na man born in 1999. The investigation is underway.
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- Orda.kz website was\r\ntemporarily closed due to DDoS attacks that have been ongoing since July 21.
\r\nOn July 24, the Orda.kz\r\nwebsite was temporarily closed due to DDoS attacks that had been ongoing since\r\nJuly 21.
\r\n\"From Thursday\r\n6:00 p.m., a non-stop DDoS attack has been going on on the Orda.kz website,\r\ncorporate mail and all our social networks. The scale of the attack is\r\ncomparable, let\'s say, to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Experts are surprised,\r\nthey say that it could cost the person who ordered it hundreds thousand dollars. We fight back with\r\nall our might, not always with success, but the website CMS does not work, the\r\nwebsite is not updated, \" Gulnar Bazhkenova, the editor-in-chief said.
\r\nAs of the beginning of\r\nAugust, the Orda.kz website does not function. Journalists publish thier\r\narticles in social networks.
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The following charges were filed in connection with the exercise of the\r\nright to freedom of expression in July 2022:
\r\n- 2 criminal charge (none in court)
\r\n- 9 civil claims and lawsuits (8 of them for protection of honor,\r\ndignity and business reputation).
\r\n- 1 administrative charge
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The following charges were filed since the beginning of the year:
\r\n- 14 criminal charges (5 in court).
\r\n- 24 claims and suits in civil procedure (19 of them for protection of\r\nhonor, dignity and business reputation).
\r\nClaims for compensation for non-pecuniary damage amounted to 11 million\r\n350 thousand tenge. The courts collected\r\n800 thousand tenge.
\r\n- 16 administrative charges, including 7 related to January riots
\r\nThe monitoring is based on the information of the Adil Soz Foundation\'s\r\nreporters 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 info@adilsoz.kz
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