On January 23, the Karaganda Regional Prosecutor's Office annulled the decision of the Shachtinsk City Police Department to terminate the pre-trial investigation into the case of interfering with the legal professional activities of journalist Diana Saparkyzy.
As it was reported, on August 18, KazTAG reporter Diana Saparkyzy, was allegedly attacked by security guards of Kazakhstan mine of the ArcelorMittal Temirtau company, B. Tirykin and E. Zhanshin. At that moment she was covering the situation at the mine. One of the men took the journalist's phone and deleted the recorded files, while the other held her. Diana Saparkyzy filed a complaint with the police. The Shachtinsk City Police drew up an administrative offense report against B. Tirykin under Part 1 of Article 73-1 of the Administrative Offenses Code (Intentional infliction of minor bodily harm). Subsequently, a criminal investigation was initiated under Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Interfering with the legal professional activities of a journalist) at the insistence of the “Adil Soz” Foundation and the journalist's lawyer Shirin Amirgaliyeva.
The administrative investigation was terminated on October 27, with the reason being the conduct of the criminal investigation. However, on November 8, Senior Investigator of the Shachtinsk City Police Department K. Baiseitova discontinued the criminal investigation, citing the termination of the administrative investigation against the guards.
The “Adil Soz” Foundation has always insisted and continues to insist that cases of interfering with journalists' activities should be investigated under Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan and that such investigations should be fully pursued. It should be noted that only three such cases have reached the court during the years of Kazakhstan's independence. Making Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan truly effective is one of the key objectives of the “Adil Soz” Foundation. To achieve the punishment of the guilty, the foundation provided Diana Saparkyzy with legal assistance, helped to pay for the lawyer's services, actively covered the case, made statements, and actively drew the attention of the media, legal, and human rights community to it.
The “Adil Soz” Foundation welcomes and supports the decision taken by the Karaganda Regional Prosecutor's Office on January 23 to cancel the termination of the pre-trial investigation under Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan and to send the case to the Shachtinsk City Police Department for additional investigation. With its decision, the Karaganda Regional Prosecutor's Office may change the existing negative trend and contribute to making Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan truly effective.
We believe that the journalistic community and all those who care about the right to freely receive comprehensive, reliable, and objective information should support such decisions, and law enforcement agencies should initially ensure an objective investigation of the facts of interfering with the legal professional activities of journalists."
