The Kazakh International Fund for the Protection of Freedom of Speech “Adil Soz” summed up the results of 2019. The figures released by the Fund clearly indicate that the situation with freedom of speech in Kazakhstan is critical.
So, 46 journalists were detained in 2019, and 17 journalists were attacked. Also there were recorded 10 cases where journalists and the media received threats.
Attempts to silence journalists using the law are also very popular in Kazakh society. So, according to the Fund, 26 criminal cases were opened against journalists and media in 2019 for defamation, 7 – for allegedly disseminating false information, 7 – for participating in the activities of a banned organization, 5 – for fomentation of strife, 3 – for insulting and using violence against a representative of authority.
“According to the Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Records of the Prosecutor General’s office of Kazakhstan, for the first half of 2019, courts completed 24 cases under the article “Fomentation of social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious strife”. Sentences were passed on 18 of them. Only one case is dismissed. The accused were 26 people, 19 of them were convicted, 3 were acquitted,” the Fund’s report said.
In addition, the Fund summarized the data at the end of 2019. According to published information, in December, 68 cases were registered in the Unified Register of pre-trial investigations under the article “Fomentation of social, national, tribal, racial, estate or religious strife. Cases on 59 offenses were sent to the court.
“There were 73 civil charges. 66 of them were claims and suits for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation. The claimed amount of non-pecuniary damage was $263.6 thousand. The amount claimed for non-pecuniary damage was $24.4 thousand. The authors of claims to the media were: civil servants – 22, legal entities – 22, citizens – 22. There were passed 76 judgments (including 21 in appeal, 4 in cassation), 45 of them were in favor of the media and citizens. There were also 17 administrative charges,” the report sums up.
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