Violations of freedom of speech in Kazakhstan February 2024
The International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech «Adil Soz» presents an overview of events reflecting the situation in Kazakhstan with freedom of expression, receipt, and dissemination of information in February 2024.
In February 2024, there were recorded:
- 5 reports of violations of journalists and media rights,
Including:
- 2 reports of obstruction of legitimate professional activities of journalists;
- 2 reports about the use of media image: the perpetrators used logos of well-known media outlets to publish fake fraudulent messages;
- Report of copyright infringement.
- 14 reports relating to the right to to access and disseminate information,
Including:
- 5 cases of refusals, restrictions in providing publicly relevant information;
- 9 reports of attempts to hack into journalists and media outlets accounts on social networks, problems with access to media websites, and blocking of resources on the instructions of an authorised body.
- 9 reports on pre-trial and court claims and lawsuits filed against journalists and media outlets (data on pre-trial and court proceedings do not include reports related to ongoing cases),
Including:
- 2 pre-trial charges of the media for disseminating knowingly false information;
- 7 judicial and pre-trial civil claims against the media.
EVENTS IN FEBRUARY
- On February 5, the President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Jomart Tokayev accepted the resignation of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The new Prime Minister appointed Olzhas Bektenov, who previously served as head of the Presidential Administration. On February 6, the composition of the new cabinet of ministers was approved.
- The Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry (MDDIAI) and the National Security Committee (NSC) of Kazakhstan have initiated an investigation into the leakage of citizens' personal data discovered on the GitHub platform. The data belonged to the Chinese company I-Soon, one of the subcontractors of the Ministry of Public Security of China, and also included information about subscribers of Beeline, Tele-2, and Kazakhtelecom. The MDDIAI reported on the joint analysis conducted with the NSC of the materials obtained. As a result, unscheduled inspections of organizations are planned to ensure compliance with legislation on the protection of personal data and information security.
According to the Cyber Attack Analysis and Investigation Center (TSARKA), a Chinese hacker group had control over critical IT infrastructure objects in Kazakhstan. Their objectives included both general information such as databases and specific individual information, such as monitoring communications, calls, and movements. According to TSARKA, the volume and nature of the data indicate systemic flaws in the information security system in our country. Available leaked materials suggest that at least one hacker group had full access to the critical infrastructure of Kazakhstani telecommunications operators for over two years. The hackers controlled the event logs of operators, call durations, IMEI numbers of devices, and call billing.
In Kazakhstan, there are 5804 registered media outlets, of which 3985 are periodic print publications, 212 are television channels, 90 are radio stations, and 1222 are information agencies and online publications. Among them, domestic media outlets number 5509, while foreign media outlets number 295. The largest group remains print media, comprising 3985 of the total registered media outlets, including 2213 newspapers and 1772 magazines.
The most used languages in the media are Kazakh and Russian, with 2170 media outlets using both languages. This statistical data for media as of January 2024 is provided by the Ministry of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan.
According to the ministry's data, during the period from January 1 to January 31, 2024, restrictions were imposed on the distribution of 1316 internet resources and links by the authorized body due to violations such as terrorism, extremism, pornography, distribution of narcotics, alcohol, tobacco products, and others.
In January, no measures were taken by the authorized body to restrict access based on court decisions.
LEGISLATIVE CHANGES
- On February 16, by order of the Minister of Culture and Information A. Balaeva, the Rules for labelling online advertising were approved. According to the order, online advertising placed by influencers (bloggers) on a commercial or contractual basis is subject to labelling.
The labelling contains a textual indication that the posted material is an advertisement. The rules offer 14 wording options in Kazakh and Russian. Online advertisements placed on instant messaging services, advertisements in TV and radio programmes or their fragments placed on the accounts of TV and radio channels on online platforms, social advertisements are not subject to labelling.
The rules are to be introduced from March 2, 2024.
- On February 20, the plenary session of the Mazhilis approved in the first reading the bill «On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Issues of Access to Information and Public Participation».
The bill aims to prevent frequent and systematic violations of the law on access to information in the public sector, ensure the proactive disclosure of official information by government bodies, and expand access to information for citizens, including those with disabilities.
Vice Minister of Culture and Information Daniyar Kadyrov, who presented the bill, emphasized the need to align legislation with international standards on information openness. He proposed fully removing restrictions on access to socially significant information in government agencies, except for special classified data.
Denial of accreditation to Azattyk correspondents
In February, proceedings began in the Specialized Inter-District Administrative Court of Almaty regarding a case in which the representation of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) challenges the refusal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to accredit or extend accreditation to Radio Azattyk employees.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' refusal to accredit or extend accreditation to 36 employees of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) representation in Kazakhstan became known in January of this year.
The Ministry cited as grounds for refusal the fact that journalists continued to work without accreditation, as well as the administrative court's fine imposed on the representation of RFE/RL in Kazakhstan in November 2023 for disseminating false information.
On February 26, Judge M. Mukhambetkaliyeva, after reviewing the case materials, deemed it necessary to involve employees of the foreign media outlet as interested parties in the case regarding the contested decision to refuse or extend accreditation. The 36 employees of the Free Europe representation in Kazakhstan will participate in the proceedings via the WhatsApp messenger.
On February 2, the International Organization «Committee to Protect Journalists» (CPJ) issued a statement condemning the decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deny accreditation to Radio Azattyk journalists and called on the authorities to allow the publication to operate freely.
The situation has also been noted by the US Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Daniel Rosenblum. «We are concerned and closely monitoring what is happening regarding media law and possible amendments affecting journalists working for foreign publications. So for us, media freedom, freedom of speech, these are very important issues that we discuss in dialogue with the government», said the ambassador, responding to journalists' questions on the sidelines of a forum in Astana.
Adil Soz hopes that the decision of the specialized inter-district administrative court in Astana will be balanced, reasonable, fair, and fully comply with the requirements of legislation and international obligations undertaken by Kazakhstan.
Also in February:
- The chief editor of Dala Inside and the founder of the publication were summoned for questioning regarding an article for which the editorial board issued a refutation.
Duman Tanabasov, the chief editor of Dala Inside, and Erzhan Bagdatov, the founder of Dala Inside and Dalanews.kz, were summoned to the investigation department of the police department in Astana as part of a pre-trial criminal investigation into the dissemination of knowingly false information in the media. Duman Tanabekov and Erzhan Bagdatov were summoned to the police as witnesses.
The head of the construction company «G-Park» Gabit Satmagambetov, filed a statement with the police due to the publication in Dala Inside of an article entitled «Will the history of «Kuat» repeat itself». The head of the construction company «G-Park» Gabit Satmagambetov distances himself from problems in Dubai» dated December 25, 2023. In response, Satmagambetov refuted the information, stating that he is in Astana, and demanded a refutation from the editorial board
Dala Inside issued a retraction on December 28, but Satmagambetov went to the police.
The chief editor of 365info.kz, Erzat Koishiev, who published the Dala Inside article in the kazakh press review, was also summoned to the investigation department.
Minister of Culture and Information Aida Balayeva expressed concern about the situation surrounding the independent publication.
«At present, the editorial staff of Dala news has already posted an article refuting the previously published information, thus fulfilling the obligation of the media in accordance with the current legislation. Considering this fact, the Ministry keeps the situation under special control and is already carrying out relevant work together with law enforcement agencies in order to protect the said media outlet from possible pressure», the minister wrote on social media.
On February 20, Bakhtiyar Galimzhanov, the lawyer defending the journalists of DALA INSIDE, announced the termination of the pre-trial investigation.
- The Judicial Board for Criminal Cases of the Shymkent city Court overtuned decision of the court on administrative offenses, which acquitted the journalist from the «Atameken Business» TV channel of defamation. On February 12, the appellate court imposed an administrative penalty on Nizovkina in the form of a fine of 180 MCI (621,000 tenge, approximately $1,400).
As a reminder, the process was initiated based on a statement from the first deputy chief of the Shymkent Police Department, Yermakhan Abdramanov, regarding two posts published on Marina Nizovkina's personal Instagram account.
In both the first-instance court and the appeal, the defendant's side did not receive an answer as to which information in the published posts was knowingly false. Additionally, there was repeated questioning during the hearings as to why two of Marina Nizovkina's posts were being considered, while the administrative offense report was drafted for only one of them.
Three expert examinations were conducted in the case. According to the journalist's lawyer Natalya Burmistrova, an expert conclusion from the Judicial Expertise Center in Aktobe stated that it was impossible to establish negative information regarding Abdramanov.
The appellate board concluded that the first-instance court failed to sufficiently clarify the factual circumstances of the case, did not consider the conclusions of the Shymkent and Astana expert examinations, did not take measures to appoint another examination in the presence of two contradictory expert opinions, and the screenshots provided by Nizovkina for examination were not legalized.
The decision may be reviewed in the cassation procedure.
The monitoring was prepared according to reports to correspondents of the «Adil Soz» Foundation and information from open sources.
Head of the Monitoring Service of the «Adil Soz» Foundation - Elena Tsoy
Email: lena@adilsoz.kz
For all monitoring-related inquiries, you can also contact: info@adilsoz.kz
