Shymkent police: attacking journalists is not an offense

5 may 2021

The Adil Soz Foundation received a response to an appeal regarding serious and rude interference with journalists activity that took place in the Altyntobe residential area in Shymkent on April 3.

The head of the Internal Security Department of the Shymkent Police Department, Colonel N. Zhumakhmetov, said that the fact of bodily harm to the Channel 31 reporter Bakhrom Abdullaev was established, but it was not a criminal offense. So "the criminal case was dropped and sent for review to the Shymkent prosecutor's office."

As it was reported the police banned covering the protest of local residents. Policemen injured the hand of journalist Bakhrom Abdullayev, broke the umbrella he was holding over the camera while covering the event, threatened Astana TV reported Bahrambek Talibzhanov with death, and tried to snatch out the cell phone of radio Azattyk reporter Dilyara Isa.

One month earlier, on March 2, police beated Bahrambek Talibzhanov, Astana TV reporter for Shymkent. A huge fire broke out at the auto parts warehouse located at the Tamerlanovskoye Highway. The journalist came there to cover the event. Law enforcement officers banned video recording.

Three police officers rounded up Bahrambek Talibzhanov, and another one hit the reporter in the face and then in the kidneys. At that moment, Bahrambek's colleague, the correspondent of Channel 31, Bahrom Abdullaev, ran up to them and began making video recordingof what was happening on his phone. The journalists were taken to the Abay police station.
On the evening of March 2, the Adil Soz Foundation reported that police beated Bakhrambek Talibzhanov Astana TV reporter in Shymkent while he was covering an emergency situation. Bakhrom Abdullayev, Channel 31 reporter, recorded the incident on his mobile phone.

A few hours later at 1.30 AM on March 3, Adil soz foundation received a message entitled “Preliminary response to your article: "Journalist of "Astana" TV channel was beaten in Shymkent". Since the sender's address is somewhat strange for the Kazakh police - dvdg.shymkent@mail.ru - and there is not a single surname in the message, we quote it verbatim:

“Police Department started regulatory inspection оn this fact. The results will follow at a later date.

We also inform you that on March 2, 2021, the head of the Police Department of the city of Shymkent, Major General of Police, personally met with the reporters of the national channels and discussed the situation with them.

Currently the investigation on Bahrambek Talibzhanov's claim has not yet been completed. At least nothing is known about it.

We hope that the prosecution authorities will remind the Shymkent police of Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan:

«Interfering with legal professional activity of journalist by coercion him (her) to dissemination or refuse to dissemination of information, as well as by creating conditions, preventing to execution by the journalist of the legal professional activity or deprives him (her) of such opportunity».