Elmedia office was attacked for the fifth time
As Elmedia reported in its Telegram channel, on January 10 at 4.30 am, three unidentified persons broke the windows of the entrance group of the business center where the its editorial office located. That was the fifth attack already, and it followed the November 25th detention of the suspects. Before that the Adilsoz Foundation had addressed the President of the country Kassym-Jomart Tokaev , General Prosecutor of the Republic of Kazakhstan Berik Asylov , Minister of Internal Affairs Marat Akhmetzhanov and Minister of Information and Social Development Darkhan Kydyrali with a request to protect female journalists from persecution. The press secretary of the head of state Ruslan Zheldibai responded by assurances that the appeal was taken into account, and the relevant departments had already been instructed to investigate the cases and to punish the guilty ones. Four days later, the head of the investigation department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Sanzhar Adilov , said that the Ministry of Internal Affairs took the investigation into the attacks on the editorial offices of ElMedia and Orda.kz under control. Accordiing to him, the suspects pleaded guilty and there were other proofs of their guilt as well. However, in late evening on December 7, unknown people reported to the police about bombs in the apartment and car of Gulzhan Yergaliyeva, the head of ElMedia, and two days later a funeral wreath was brought to her office.
“The police keeps silence. Those detained guys are in a pre-trial detention center and awaiting trial, ” Ayan Sharipbaev, the editor of the ElMedia, told the Adilsoz Foundation. .
The attacks interfere with the normal work of the editorial office, they also bring tangible material damage.
“Last time the company that installs such glasses billed us about two thousand dollars. And every attack cost us that much. Besides, we had to pay for security cameras,” Ayan Sharipbaev said.
Law enforcement agencies have not yet commented on the situation.
