Violations of Freedom of Speech in Kazakhstan April 2023

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

In April 2023, 49 cases related to freedom of speech and information dissemination were documented. Among them:

• 14 cases reported violations of journalists' and media rights. These include arrests, attacks, threats against journalists, interference with media activity, and interfering with lawful professional activities of a journalist.
• On April 11th, Vlast.kz photo reporter Zhannara Karimova  was detained by the police in Astana while covering a rally and subsequent arrests of oil workers. The journalist reported that law enforcement officers attempted to delete all the recorded material, but after the editor interferred with the situation, the recordings were preserved. Special forces officers (SOBR) made two attempts to prevent Zhannara's colleague, Vlast reporter Beymbet Moldagaliev from recording video.
• In Turkistan, security guards at a gas station attacked "Khabar 24" TV team. journalist Timur Sapar and cameraman Askhat Karakoyshiev came to Turkistan region to cover shortage of motor gasoline in the southern part of the country and the illegal export of diesel fuel across the border to neighboring countries. There, they documented instances of illegal export of diesel fuel across the border. At one gas station, the journalists began recording the illegal dispensing of diesel. "Upon seeing the camera, the gas station security immediately attacked the cameraman," as reported in the news piece called "Where is Kazakh diesel fuel flowing?". The moment of the attack was captured by the journalist on his phone. The video shows one of the gas station guards forcibly restraining the cameraman; later, Askhat Karakoyshiev displayed an injury to his neck. These images were broadcasted in the news.

Out of the 49 cases documented, 25 pertain to the reception and dissemination of socially important information. In April, journalists encountered account blockages on social media, throttling, attempts to hack accounts, bot invasions, while users faced blocking or restricted access to popular internet resources.

The Instagram account of the media project "shishkin_like" was temporarily blocked by the social media administration due to complaints allegedly coming from three Kazakhstani companies. After some time, the companies notified the editorial team that they hadn't lodged any complaints. As the communication between the chief editor of "shishkin_like" and the Instagram administration did not lead to the unblocking of the page, the editorial team was compelled to register a new account on the social network in order not to compromise the interests of their readers.

Specialists from the non-governmental organization Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) reported on a subtle form of internet censorship - throttling. It is reported that the website "Radio Azattyk" was either blocked within Kazakhstan or its loading significantly slowed down for at least 28 weeks, starting from September 27 of the previous year, through traffic throttling. OONI experts also found that the website "Current Time" was subjected to throttling during the early presidential elections in Kazakhstan in November 2022.

The website "Azattyk" has previously been subject to access restrictions and apparent blocks in Kazakhstan, but they were not as prolonged as the current one. According to OONI's article, as of April 11, 2023, throttling of the "Azattyk" website was still observed.
"As of the writing of this article, access to azattyq.org was still restricted on networks of certain providers in Kazakhstan, while, to the best of our knowledge, access to currentime.tv is no longer restricted," the OONI report concludes.

In April, there were 10 cases of pre-trial and court claims filed against journalists and media outlets in relation to the exercise of the right to freedom of speech.
Among them, 1 case was in a pre-trial criminal procedure, where the administration of the Zhambyl region appealed to the police against a journalist from "Orda", deeming an article about the position of a government body provocative and casting doubt on the administration's stance.

2 cases reported administrative claims.

• Journalist L. Akhmedyarov was subjected to a 10-day administrative arrest for violating the legislation on peaceful assemblies. The journalist's charge was due to his speech at an authorized gathering.

"In my speech, I was merely urging the youth to abide by the laws of our country. Nothing more. Moreover, when the head of the internal policy department, Erbol Kushekov, approached me and demanded that I stop speaking, I immediately complied and stepped down from the stage. In other words, I precisely followed everything prescribed by the law," Lukpan Akhmedyarov stated.
Journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov associates the administrative case against him with his intention to travel to Zhanaozen to report on the situation in the city.
Lukpan Akhmedyarov publishes materials on his YouTube channel "Simply a Journalist", where he covers important events in the country.

• A defamation case against a resident of Kostanay was heard in court in Kostanay. The resident was charged with publishing an article on the website "Nasha Gazeta". Previously, the Kostanay resident told "Nasha Gazeta" that the director of the college where she worked had not returned a significant sum of money to her. The court found the Kostanay resident not guilty of committing an administrative offense.

7 cases of court and pre-trial civil claims were filed. Among them, 5 were related to the protection of honor, dignity, and business reputation.

• On April 20th, a court in Astana issued a decision in a defamation case against several defendants, including the owner of the publication "Exclusive" - LLP "Publishing House "Exclusive". The claim was filed in relation to an article about an inheritance dispute. In addition to refuting the claims and paying moral damages, the court ruled that the defendants should also apologize to the plaintiffs.

The "Adil Soz" Foundation points out that the requirement to compel the defendant to publicly apologize cannot be considered by the court, as such a method of protecting civil rights is not provided for by law.

Also in April:

• The Ministry of Information and Social Development once again published for public discussion the draft law "On Mass Media."

The article that had sparked strong criticism from media defenders, "Execution of an Editor's Assignment under Special Conditions," was excluded from the draft law reintroduced for discussion. The term "special conditions" itself was also removed from the draft law.
The concept of "informational sovereignty" has been introduced into the draft law. It is defined as the "independence of the information space of the Republic of Kazakhstan, determining the socio-political autonomy of citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan in shaping the information agenda." Ensuring informational sovereignty and information security of individuals, society, and the state is one of the main tasks of media activities.

The term "Mass Media" in the draft law is defined as "a means of mass information and an internet resource."
In the draft law reintroduced for discussion, the provision regarding press credentials, which will confirm the special status of journalists and grant the right to simplified accreditation and other rights provided by law, remains present.
The draft law has reinstated the provision that introduces a three-year statute of limitations for claims regarding the protection of honor, dignity, and business reputation brought against mass media outlets.

The monitoring is prepared based on reports of the "Adil Soz" Foundation reporters and information from open sources.
Head of the "Adil Soz" Foundation Monitoring Department Elena Tsoy
e-mail: lena@adilsoz.kz

For all monitoring-related inquiries, you can also contact info@adilsoz.kz