The case on the protection of journalists in Petropavlovsk was dropped for the sixth time in a year

On August 19, shortly after the anniversary of the beginning of the pre-trial investigation into interference to the professional activities of journalists of the Khabar-24 TV channel, cameraman Tolegen Imanov received a notification from acting investigator of the  Petropavlovsk Police Department, police captain A.K. Omarova.

"We hererby inform you that it was decided to drop the  criminal case No. 215910031001471, recorded in the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations under Art. 158 part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan,  on the basis of Article 35 part 1, paragraph 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Republic of Kazakhstan,” the document says.

The acting investigator advised to apply to the prosecutor's office of Petropavlovsk in case of disagreement with the sixth in a row drop of the case.

As it was reported Samat Dzhakupov and Natalya Volkova, the journalists from the North Kazakhstan branch of the editorial office of the Khabar24 TV channel, and cameraman Tolegen Imanov lodge a statement with the police. On August 2, 2021, security officers of the Dostyk Mall shopping center pushed them out of the building. The TV team was covering the functioning of the ASHIQ program (that identifies COVID-19 status) in the Dostyk Mall. On April 28, 2022 the prosecutor's office of the North Kazakhstan region canceled the decision to drop the pre-trial investigation. The case was dropped by police for three times and by prosecutor's office for two times within just one year.

On August 3, Tolegen Imanov addressed the head of police depertment on Facebook: “On the anniversary of the incident, I tried to find out from your subordinates about the course of this case, because the next deadline was on August 31. But whoever I called today, interrogators, police officers of the city department just did not answer my calls".