North Kazakhstani judges admitted to violating the principle of trial publicity

On May 30, judges from the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the North Kazakhstan Regional Court prevented Adal Sot Telegram channel journalist Zinaida Protsenko and blogger Arman Akylbekov from attending an open court hearing regarding M. Nistoliy's appeal against blogger Nikolai Nikolaenko. Some participants were present in the courtroom and others connected via ZOOM, but the journalists were denied online access, even though Zinaida Protsenko was in another city at the time.

On June 14, following a complaint about the actions (or lack thereof) of the judicial collegium, Yerbol Zhangazin, the chairman of the court, stated that an operational meeting was conducted to address this issue. Explanatory work was carried out with the judges of the regional court, as well as the chairmen of district and equivalent courts, emphasizing the strict adherence to the legal requirements concerning open trials in all judicial instances.

"The regional courts have been notified about the inadmissibility of restricting media representatives and other individuals from accessing open court hearings. Publicity and transparency in legal proceedings are fundamental principles of justice in a democratic society," emphasized the chairman of the regional court.