Violations of freedom of speech in Kazakhstan January 2023

The International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech  "Adil Soz" conducted a study on the situation in Kazakhstan regarding the right to freedom of expression, receiving and disseminating information in January 2023.

 

In January 2023, compared to the previous month, the number of recorded incidents related to the exercise of the right to freedom of speech and dissemination/receipt of information increased by 1.18 times - 66 incidents (compared to 55 reports in December 2022). In January, journalists faced violations of their rights 1.1 times more often (18 incidents) than in December 2022 (16 incidents), and violations of the right to receive and disseminate information increased by 1.17 times (41 incidents). Number of lawsuits and pre-trial claims against journalists, bloggers, and citizens in connection with information published in the media also increased - 7 claims were recorded in January of this year compared to 5 in December 2022.

 

 

On January 30th, the court urgently extended the detention of journalist Mikhail Kozachkov until March 18th. 

His term of detention was supposed to end on February 18th. The hearing was held in closed session. Mikhail Kozachkov, the author of the Telegram channel Kozachkov offside, was arrested in Almaty on December 18th, 2022, and has been in custody since December 20th with a judge's approval. Shortly thereafter, the Financial Monitoring Agency issued a press release stating that the journalist was suspected of assisting  Kospaev's organized criminal group in committing raiding attacks, spreading knowingly false information, illegally collecting and disseminating state secrets. On January 11th, Mikhail Kozachkov appealed to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan to take the investigation into his case under his control. The journalist pleaded not guilty.

 

The trial of the author of the Telegram channel AbzhanNews, Makhambet Abzhan, has begun. 

The journalist is accused of spreading knowingly false information and extortion. The trial is being held in closed session. "Adil Soz" believes that the practice of hearing cases against journalists in closed sessions is an indirect proof that the criminal investigations against them are related to their professional activities.

 

The Elmedia editorial office was attacked twice in January. Since October 2022, this has been the sixth case when unknown persons break the windows of the entrance group of the building where the editorial office is located.

 

On January 10th, the Elmedia editorial office was attacked for the fifth time since October 2022. This happened despite the fact that suspects had been detained, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that the investigation into the attacks on the Orda.kz and Elmedia editorial offices was under its control, and measures were being taken to identify the organizers of the crime and  those who committed the attacks. This time, three unknown men again smashed the glass of the entrance group of the building where the Elmedia editorial office rents premises. On the night of January 13th, unknown persons broke the windows of the storefront group of the building for the sixth time. Elmedia believes that the goal of the attacks is to make the building administration to terminate the lease agreement, this would make the media outlet to suspend its activities for some time, as it will take time to move and set up a new studio.

 

Gulnar Bazhkenova, the editor-in-chief of Orda.kz, reported another threat on January 15th. Her and her neighbors' entrance doors were sealed with construction foam. 

The journalist reported that they found the person who sealed her door with mounting foam in October 2022 - "a middled aged Yandex taxi driver, married, with many children. He says he took the job for 100,000 tenge to pay off debts."

 

On January 19th, the entrance door of the apartment of Hyperborey YouTube channel author Vadim Boreyko, was filled with construction foam. Though it happened around 3 AM, the neighbors noticed three unknown men running away. "The foam has the smell of a flammable substance. Perhaps they wanted to block the door and then set it on fire," Vadim Boreyko speculated on his Facebook page. The journalist links the damage to the door of his apartment with his professional activities.

 

The lawyer of Danat Namazbayev, blogger sentenced for calls to overthrow the government, has applied to the Prosecutor General's Office with a request to submit a prosecutorial protest to the cassation instance of the Supreme Court.

In December 2022, the Supreme Court refused to forward the blogger's case for consideration by the board of criminal cases. The blogger's lawyers insisted that Danat Namazbayev was convicted illegally and cited numerous procedural violations committed by the court of first instance and errors in the psycho-philological expert study. According to the defense, there is no "call" to overthrow or seize power in Namazbayev's actions.