Human rights activists appealed to the highest officials of the country in defense of journalists

29 march 2019

Nine Kazakhstani non-governmental organizations appealed to the country's leadership demanding to put an end to lawlessness against journalists. The appeal is addressed to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan K.Tokaev, Secretary of the Security Council K. Kasymov, Prosecutor General G.Nurdauletov, Minister of Internal Affairs E.Turgumbayev and the Minister of Information and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan D.Abaev The appeal says:

“We appeal to you with a request to put an end to the lawlessness that has recently become more frequent regarding the right of citizens to freedom of expression and the right of journalists to perform their professional activities.

1. On March 22, 2019 in Astana, near the Shapagat trade house, a group of young people impeded the work of Present Time journalists - the Radio Free Europe / Freedom television project - while they were covering people's positions regarding the renaming of the capital of the country. Journalist Svetlana Glushkova applied to the police officers for help in accordance with Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, but they were just watching and did not take any legal actions. Moreover, according to the statement of a girl from the group impending the work of journalists, Svetlana Glushkova was detained by police and taken to the police station, where she was held for more than five hours and charged for an offense under Article 293 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan “Hooliganism”. But later, the charges were changed to article 73-2 of the Administrative Code "Beat". All these facts were recorded by Svetlana Glushkova's colleagues and witnesses of the incident.

https://rus.azattyq.org/a/29835923.html

2. On the same day in Almaty on a pedestrian boulevard named after Panfilov unknown young people, using the same methods, tried to impede the work of the team of the "Present Time". Police officers that were standing nearby took no action against them.

3. A day earlier, on March 21, near the Astana Akimat, a group of people tried to impede the work of Present Time journalists recording the residents of the city who expressed their opinion about the renaming of the capital.

4. On March 11, 2019 in Zhanaozen, police detained a reporter of Radio Azattyk, the Kazakh service of Radio Free Europe / Liberty, Sania Toyken. The detention occurred in the evening at the exit of the cafe. In the morning, Sania Toyken was convicted in the administrative court of Zhanaozen to pay a fine of 20 Monthly calculation Index for violating Article 667 of the Administrative Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan “disobeying a lawful order or request of a police officer.”

http://www.adilsoz.kz/news/show/id/2886

5. Earlier, on February 12 in Astana, Sania Toiken, who conducted interviews with mothers of many children, was taken to the police station without any reasons. There, the head of the criminal investigation department Daniyar Adilov talked with the journalist for about half an hour, then the reporter was released. https://rus.azattyq.org/a/29765946.html.

6. On February 27, 2019, Sania Toiken and cameraman Sanat Nurbek in Zhanaozen were detained by the police wit the use of force and taken to the capital of the region - the city of Aktau because of a claim allegedly received against them. https://www.svoboda.org/a/29793555.html They were informed of the initiation of a criminal case under Article 174 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan based on a statement of an unknown person who suggested that a journalist could in the future commit some act of incitement of discord.

7. In March similar accusations were made against the head of the Almaty Azattyk Bureau, Kuanyshbek Kari. He was urgently summoned to the akimat, where representatives of the city authorities and prosecutors accused the media of "unilateral coverage of political events" and "incitement of discord."

https://rus.azattyq.org/a/29837072.html

8. On February 27, Shara Turmagambetova, an editor-in-chief of the Alginsk regional newspaper Zhuldyz-Zvezda, was attacked at her entrance of the house. The editor-in-chief relates the attack to her professional activities and her active civic stance, but she not apply to the police, since she did not want someone innocent was blamed for that. Nevertheless, the press service of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Aktobe region spread the message that “Alginsk Police department that according to eyewitnesses, S. Turmagambetova injured herself due to her negligence - she fell at the entrance of her house and injured the face.” http://www.adilsoz.kz/news/show/id/2865.

We can go on and on reciting similar facts. Thus, on January 3, Azattyk journalist Zhanagul Zhursin was detained while covering the bashing of the court building in Aktobe; on January 9, Azattyk radio correspondent Orken Zhoyamergen and Yerzhan Amirkhanov were detained in Astana while covering protesters outside the government building.

We investigated the circumstances of the above cases events within our power and consider them to be an unequivocal disrespect for the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Article 20 of which proclaims freedom of speech, a criminal form of censorship and a defiant violation of international obligations and domestic laws. Increasing attempts to discredit independent media and journalism in general as a public institution will lead to legal cynicism and lawlessness in the society, that can constitute a serious threat to the stable democratic development of the country.

We believe that:

- The Ministry of the Interior should objectively investigate each of the cases and punish those responsible for violating the professional rights of journalists and notify the public about this;

- The Ministry of Information and Community Development should provide legal and public support to journalists who become victims of lawlessness;

- The Prosecutor General’s Office should strictly control the investigation of every case of unlawful restriction of freedom of expression and impeding of the professional activities of a journalist.

The appeal was signed by the President of the International Foundation for the Protection of Freedom of Speech “Adil Soz” T.Kaleyeva, Chairman of the Board of the Union of Journalists of Kazakhstan S.Matayev, Executive Director of PF “Charter for Human Rights” J. Turmagambetova, Director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights human rights and the rule of law E.Zhovtis, Director of the International Center for Journalism MediaNet I. Brattsev, President of the PF “League of Judicial Journalists” S. Mauletby, President of the PF “Ar.Ruh.Hak” B. Toregozhina, President of the PF “ International legal initiative A.Shormanbaeva, President of PF" Liberty "G.Ageleuov, director of the NGO" Қadіr-қasiet A. Ibraeva.