While the Kazakh authorities from the high stands of the capital are announcing a course towards “New Kazakhstan”, in the regions of the country they continue to intimidate and eliminate objectionable journalists using the old proven methods.
ACCA has already reported on threats against well-known journalist Mikhail Kozachkov, who specializes in investigating corruption scandals, after he published a video from the wedding of Nurlan Amanbek, son of the head of the administrative police of Almaty, on his Telegram channel. In addition to threats, Kozachkov’s personal car was damaged by scratching insulting inscriptions on its doors.
Another metropolitan investigative journalist, Makhambet Abzhan, was much less “lucky”. Last weekend, corruption fighters mitted him red-handed while receiving over $107,000, which he allegedly extorted from some businessman.
“The Anti-Corruption Service stopped the criminal activity of citizen M. Abzhan, who extorted money on an especially large scale from an entrepreneur under the threat of discrediting information being disseminated in the media. On July 3 as a result of a special operation, citizen M. Abzhan was caught red-handed after receiving money and placed in a detention center of the Nur-Sultan Police Department. Information about the involvement of M. Abzhan in other similar crimes is being verified. Other information in the interests of the investigation is not subject to disclosure, ”the anti-corruption service released an official message just a few hours after Abzhan was detained.
Makhambet Abzhan is known for publishing impartial posts on his telegram channel, in particular, investigations about very famous people in Kazakhstan, such as Dariga Nazarbayeva (daughter of the first president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev), Kanysh Izbastin (nephew of the second president of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev) and others.
From the end of June, a massive Internet attack began against Abzhan. Discrediting publications began to appear on various Internet sites. The unknown authors of these materials, first of all, recalled that Abzhan had already been repeatedly convicted – in 2007 for embezzlement for 3 years in prison, in 2016 for insulting a representative of the authorities for 2 years of restriction of freedom, in 2017 for fraud for 3.5 years of imprisonment. However, in 2018, Abzhan was released.
These publications openly indicated that Abzhan would get it:
“Another laughing stock in the ranks of the opposition was Makhambet Abzhan. He is a journalist and activist. He imagined himself to be a Kazakh Navalny and chose not just anyone, but Tokaev’s nephew, Kanysh Izbastin, as a target. Recently, he published a series of materials that Izbastin took away mining farms from Kairat Satybaldy. Well, who dares openly declare war on the President’s family like that? In the near future, law enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan intend to initiate a pre-investigation check against Makhambet Abzhan on the fact of publishing slanderous information about the president’s relatives. Of course, this incident cannot go unpunished,” wrote, for example, the online publication altyn-orda.kz.
On July 3, Abzhan was caught red-handed while receiving money. There are many inconsistencies in this story. So, the arrest took place at about seven o’clock in the morning. Why Abzhan decided to receive money so early in the morning is unknown! Secondly, the money was transferred in cash. The footage from the detention shows how employees of the anti-corruption department carefully and diligently arrange banknotes for video shooting. Thirdly, it is noteworthy that the employees of the Anti-Corruption Agency were involved in the detention. Although Abzhan is not a civil servant, extortion, according to the current legislation, should be dealt with by the structures of the Ministry of the Interior, but not by the Anti-Corruptionists.
Fourth, the speed at which the news, photos, and videos about Abzhan’s detention are spread is simply amazing. Because in other cases, when corruption fighters detain officials, there is no such agility from them. And journalists have to be content with replies “information is not subject to disclosure.”
Meanwhile, it became known that an entrepreneur Rashit Mahat, who had worked with Kairat Satybaldy for many years, wrote a statement about extortion against Abzhan. In recent years, Mahat has been in the telecommunications business and can be a co-owner of large mining farms.
Meanwhile, according to well-known blogger Anton Budarov, Makhambet Abzhan should have been paid back that day for some work done earlier. And Abzhan, knowing that he would most likely be detained, went for the money anyway:
“Makhambet Abzhan is an ideological person, and for him money is secondary. He has communist views, so the whole story of extortion is more suitable for the authors of this tale. The reason for the fabrication of the case is that Tokayev’s relatives are openly engaged in raiding, and Abzhan stated this. According to rumors, Abzhan even knew that he would be detained when receiving a debt, but he went anyway because he knew that he had nowhere to go. That is, if not extortion, then they will detain with a kilogram of drugs in shorts. On the one hand, I feel sorry for Abzhan, on the other hand, since the same thing is being prepared for me, now I will collect all the information, print everything out and translate it into English, Spanish, and go with this case and testimonies, as well as the threats that come to me, to all organizations. I will show how they work with independent journalism in Kazakhstan. Your imprisonment, Abzhan, will serve me well. Sorry, buddy,” Budarov wrote on his Telegram channel.
In turn, the international foundation for the protection of freedom of speech “Adil soz” also considers the story of Abzhan very suspicious:
“A day earlier, Abzhan reposted a message from another Telegram channel that they were going to start a pre-trial investigation against him. It was assumed that he would be accused of insulting the president, but it was also possible that he would be prosecuted under an economic article so as not to give the case a political coloring. It is noteworthy that the money was transferred in an old-fashioned way, in cash, and on the quickly spread video, the “servicemen” very expressively counted and put the banknotes in pre-prepared bags. The amount of “compensation” is also impressive – for hiding what sins, obviously, a very small businessman promised such money? “Adil soz is looking for a lawyer for Makhambet and intends to oversee the progress of the investigation,” the fund said.
In addition, Adil Soz was outraged by the speed with which the Anti-Corruption Agency disseminated information about the detention of a journalist: “We are forced to remind the fighters against corruption that no one has canceled the presumption of innocence, enshrined in the Constitution of the country, only a court can call a person a criminal. Whether Abzhan was engaged in “criminal activity” remains to be proven,” the Adil Soz stressed.
