Journalists were not allowed to attend the trial of a wheelchair user

           On September 20, the first hearing of Jaslan Suleimenov's claim against the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan took place at the Yesil district court of Astana. The claim was initiated by the Coalition of NGOs of Kazakhstan against Torture and the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law. The plaintiff paralyzed from the waist down became a victim of torture by national security officers. He demanded 5 million tenge from the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan as a compensation for moral harm on the . basis of the the decision of the UN Committee Against Torture.

Judge Madina Davletova emphasised that the court session was open, but did not allow the journalists who came to cover the case, to be present in the courtroom. The journaliss were not satisfied by her explanation that it was just first information session with audio and video recording made by the court.