Journalist Makhambet Abzhan arrested. Court hearings lasted for six hours

On July 5, the Nur-Sultan Specialized Inter-District Investigation Court finally considered  choosing a preventive measure for Makhambet Abzhan and decided to arrest the journalist for two months. It took the court more than six hours to make such a decision (or even more than one day, since the hearing was  postponed from July 4 to July 5).

According to Abzhan's lawyer Bauyrzhan Azanov,  the prosecution had not been able to provide grounds for arrest for all this time. In Abzhan, in his turn, defended himself very actively and asked the prosecutor and law enforcement officers many competent questions.

The journalist had to participate in the meeting online. The lawyer filed a petition for his transportation to the courtroom, but the court refused without giving any reason.

Abzhan's colleagues from other media, including Western ones, have already made assumptions about the high-profile detention of the clingy journalist. The prevailing version is that the real reason may be articles published on the ABZHAN NEWS Telegram channel, affecting the interests of many high-ranking officials and their relatives .