Violations of freedom of speech in Kazakhstan February 2022

6 march 2023

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

In February, the total number of recorded incidents related to the exercise of the right to freedom of speech and the dissemination / receipt of information decreased to 44 compared to January (66) and December 2022 (55 cases).
Nevertheless, the number of facts of violations of the rights of journalists and the media remained practically the same - 17 recorded cases. For comparison, 18 facts were recorded in January, and 16 in December 2022.

In February, 7 judicial and pre-trial claims were filed against journalists, bloggers and citizens in connection with published information.
The number of facts of violation of the right to access and disseminate information is 22 cases (in January - 41, in December 2022 - 34).

In February 2023, there is a sharp increase in incidents related to threats to journalists, media editors and bloggers. 11 cases were recorded, which is 1.5 times more than in January (7) and almost twice as many as in December 2022 (6).

Including:

On February 8, a courier service delivered a box with animal entrails to the Ulysmedia.kz editorial office with family photos of editor-in-chief Samal Ibrayeva in them. Samal Ibrayeva regards the incident as "an attempt to intimidate the editors."

The fact of a sending a container with the internal organs of an unknown animal and copies of family photographs to the Ulysmedia.kz building was registered with the Yesil District Police Department in Astana. The necessary expert investigations were comissioned, the incident is being investigated.

Unidentified persons set fire to two cars belonging to the cameraman of Roman Yegorov, Vadim Boreyko's Youtube channel "Hyperborey".

At about 3 AM on February 20, two cars belonging to Roman Egorov, the cameraman of Vadim Boreiko's Youtube channel "Hyperborey", burned down at once - a 1999 Audi and a 1987 Jeep Nissan. There are no surveillance cameras at the entrance of the house where the cameraman lives, but before the car caught fire, a dull bang was heard. Firefighters arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire.
Vadim Boreyko, the author and broadcaster of the Youtube channel, connects the blowing up (arson) of cars with the January incident, when unknown people walled up the door of his apartment with mounting foam smelling of flammable liquid, and with his professional activities.

On the morning of February 22, an unknown man in a medical mask attacked independent journalist Daniyar Moldabekov at the entrance of the house where he lives.

The man hit Daniyar in the face, advised him to "not to stick his neck out” and left. The man did not try to rob the journalist.
The journalist reported the attack to the police. The claim was registered in the National Register of Pre-Trial Investigations under No. 237511030000594. A forensic medical examination has been commissioned.
Daniyar's colleagues believe that the attack is caused by his professional activities.
Later, Daniyar reported psychological pressure on his mother.

From February 22 - the day the masked man attacked him - the journalist's mother was receiving regular calls. Unknown people call and asking for some people unkown to her (if Arman, or Sabyr, or someone else live there)”. Due to the incessant calls, the journalist's mother was forced to turn off her phone.

The editors of Arbat.media received a summons to the Leninsky District Court of the Russian city of Vladimir.

The 19th military prosecutor's office of the Russian army filed a lawsuit against the media outlet because of an article about the situation in Ukraine.
Roskomnadzor demanded to delete the article back in November 2022, but the media outlet did not do this.
“Being a Kazakh news media, our organization does not violate the laws of Kazakhstan, and therefore has no reason to delete the article,” Arbat.media said at the time.

Also in February:

The draft law “On Mass Media” published by the Ministry of Information and Social Development has been sharply criticized by media advocates and journalists. Members of the working group say: the draft law submitted for discussion contains norms that were not discussed at the meetings of the working groups. The bill, if adopted as it is, will significantly restrict freedom of speech in the country.
In Petropavlovsk (Northern Kazakhstan), the first guilty verdict in 18 years was passed in the case of interfering with the activities of Khabar 24 TV team.

Sultan Sagandykov, the head of the security service of the Dostyk Mall, was found guilty under Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In accordance with the verdict, he committed the crime “by creating conditions that prevent journalists from performing their legal professional activities using his official position and damaging property.” The court sentenced him to 1 year of restriction of liberty. Besides Sagandykov must pay a forced payment in the form of 10 MCI (29,170 tenge) to the victims' compensation fund.

Sultan Sagandykov was released from the basic punishment under the law "On amnesty in connection with the thirtieth anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan".
“What has happened today is important for our society, state and media community. It’s the first time when a guilty verdict was announced under part 2 of article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. That the convict was found guilty in this crime with a qualifying factors. The court took into account all the circumstances (...) and released him from restriction of freedom on non-rehabilitating grounds, ” Dmitry Baranov, the lawyer for the victims, said.

The court did not satisfy the request of the prosecutor to deprive Sagandykov of the right to engage in security activities for a period of three years or another period, given that he has three dependent children, and work at Dostyk Mall is his only source of income .
The verdict has not entered into force.

As it was reported, on August 2, 2021, Khabar24 TV team was covering work of the ASHIQ (COVID-19 digital monitoring system) in Dostyk Mall. The Dostyk Mall security guards forcibly escorted them out of the building. Journalists Samat Dzhakupov , Natalya Volkova and cameraman Tolegen Imanov filed a complaint with the police. Since then, the criminal investigation was dropped for five times. Each time journalists argued that the investigation was dropped illegally.

The monitoring is based on the information of the Adil Soz Foundation's reporters 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 info@adilsoz.kz