The appeal of the journalist Aigul Utepova, sentenced to one year of restriction of freedom, was rejected. The international independent non-profit organization “Committee to Protect Journalists” (CPJ) has already characterized the case of Utepova as another attempt by the authorities of Kazakhstan to suppress political dissent.
In 2019, Aigul Utepova created an independent website Aigul TV, on which she wrote about corruption, political repression, human rights violations, discrimination in Kazakhstan, etc.
Naturally, the authorities of Kazakhstan didn’t like the independent media, and they repeatedly tried to silence Utepova.
The latest such attempt was a criminal case initiated in 2020 against the journalist under the article “Organization and participation in the activities of a public or religious association or other organization after the court decision to ban their activities or liquidate them in connection with their implementation of extremism or terrorism”.
On September 20, 2020, the measure of restraint “house arrest” was applied to Utepova. From 23 November to 11 December, the authorities of Kazakhstan kept Utepova at the City Psychological Health Center in Nur-Sultan for obligatory mental health check. According to Utepova, this was revenge for her journalistic activities.
As stated at the trial, in March 2018, the Esil District Court of the city of Nur-Sultan recognized the unregistered movement “Democratic choice of Kazakhstan” (DCK) as extremist. On May 18, 2020, the same court recognized the movement “Koshe partyasy” as extremist. According to the decisions of the Esil District Court, any activity of these organizations, as well as participation in them, is prohibited throughout Kazakhstan, including on Internet resources operating in the Kazakh segment of the Internet, and other mass media, in telecommunication networks, social networks, messengers and video hosting, as well as through the distribution of information materials, including Facebook and Instagram.
However, as the investigation established, Aigul Utepova, knowing that DCK and Koshe partyasy were banned from August 6 to September 12, 2020, actively participated in the activities of these organizations, publishing propaganda materials from the information resources of the aforementioned extremist organizations on social networks and on her website.
“In addition, at the end of 2019, during the New Year celebrations, defendant Utepova with her supporters went live with the leader of DCK and Keshe partyasy, Mukhtar Ablyazov, during which she made an appeal with the following content: “Mukhtar, I will pray so that the circumstances are such that you return home (to Kazakhstan) on horseback and with a shield! Let everything be fine! And I also want to say that you are my brother, and I am your weapon!” The posting of such materials on their own Internet pages, open for public access, testifies to the identity of the worldview positions of the defendant Utepova with the ideology of the extremist organizations DCK and Koshe partyasy,” the indictment said.
On April 29, the District Court No. 2 of Saryarka district of Nur-Sultan city found Utepova guilty. The verdict says that the posts and publications of the journalist “contain calls for social unrest, for a change of the political regime in the country, which undermine social harmony and political stability, thereby aggravating the socio-political situation”. The court sentenced Utepova to one year of restriction of freedom, assigning her 100 hours of forced labor and depriving her of the right to engage in social and political activities, including using the media and telecommunications networks, for a period of 2 years.
“The two-year ban on public activities actually prohibits Utepova from working as a journalist during this time. In addition, according to her lawyer, Utepova will be included in the state’s unpublished list of “extremists”, which could prevent her from accessing her bank accounts for six years,” CPJ commented on the verdict against Utepova.
CPJ also noted that the authorities of Kazakhstan should not prohibit Aigul Utepova from reporting and commenting on the news.
The convicted Utepova didn’t agree with the verdict and filed an appeal to the Collegium for Criminal Cases of the City Court of Nur-Sultan. However, the appellate instance dismissed her complaint.
“The conviction of Utepova on trumped-up charges once again demonstrates how the country’s laws, prohibiting so-called extremist groups, are usually used to suppress political dissent,” the CPJ commented on the decision.
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