In the editorial office of Elmedia YouTube channel, unidentified people broke the windows. Moreover, this was the second attack on an independent media’s office during a week.
Elmedia YouTube channel is another project of Gulzhan Yergaliyeva (a well-known opposition and independent journalist in Kazakhstan) who is regularly harassed by the authorities of Kazakhstan. All media, which were created earlier by Yergaliyeva, were closed by court decisions for political reasons.
On the morning of October 14, Elmedia employees, having come to the editorial office, found that the windows were broken in the office. And in front of the entrance on the pavement was written with paint ‘ELMEDIA KZ.NEWS’.
“For two months now, we have been subjected to endless attacks by bots,” says Ayan Sharipbayev, a journalist for the channel. “The mobile phones of our employees and our leader are torn from calls and messages of an offensive nature, but there is no reaction from law enforcement agencies.”
And on October 17, windows were broken again in the editorial office. Moreover, according to Elmedia employees, closer to noon, a message came to the editorial Telegram channel from a user named Andrey, who said that the windows had been broken on Sunday.
“When we asked what they were trying to achieve, our invisible interlocutor wrote, ‘We will come today.’ To our repeated request to explain what they want with all this, Andrey sent a photo with a rope and soap, asking to show it to Gulzhan Yergaliyeva. “She should guess…’,” the editorial office informed.
It should be noted that not only Elmedia was attacked by unknown people. Just recently, a pig’s head was thrown to the editorial office of Orda.kz website with a note containing threats against the editor-in-chief Gulnara Bazhkenova.
Meanwhile, according to the editor-in-chief of Elmedia channel Gulzhan Yergaliyeva, behind these facts of intimidation are either henchmen of the regime of the first President Nursultan Nazarbayev (who were forced to flee the country), or the Russian special services (who don’t like freedom of speech in Kazakhstan, including about the occupation of Ukraine).
“Telephone bullying is organized at the editorial office. Managers are discredited on porn sites. Animal heads are thrown up. Windows are smashed and pavements are spoiled with paint. Dirty YouTube videos are posted against brave politicians and experts. Some brutal bloggers, who fled to Russia, are being set against them on social networks. Moreover, some videos are very similar in style of speech and voice to one well-known Kazakh blogger. What’s this? This is an attempt to control KazNet and wage an information war against domestic journalists, politicians and speakers who are not afraid to talk about the state of affairs as it is in the country and around.
In fact, all these are signs of a threat to national security when the constitutional rights, honor and dignity of civil society representatives and journalists are encroached upon. In this case, the Security Council should deal with these facts in order to prevent larger and more serious crimes with the aim of destabilizing the country,” Yergaliyeva wrote on social networks about this.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and Social Development of Kazakhstan, Darkhan Kydyrali, said that his Department is closely monitoring the situation.
“We condemn such actions against our colleagues. We are also ready to provide legal support to Orda.kz,” the head of the Ministry wrote on social networks. At the same time, for some reason, he didn’t mention the attacks on Elmedia at all.
