In Kazakhstan, newspaper editor was convicted again
For the third time during last four years, the civil activist, editor of the newspaper “Saryagash info” Amangeldy Batyrbekov from Turkestan oblast was convicted.
According to the International Foundation for the Protection of Freedom of Speech “Adil Soz”, on September 23, the Saryagash district court sentenced Batyrbekov (left on the photo) to 2 years and 10 months in prison on charges of defamation and insult.
The lawsuit was filed against the journalist by the Head of the Education department of Keles region Bakhtiyar Abdiev (right on the photo), who became the hero of the post “Idiocy in Keles”, which Batyrbekov published on Facebook.
It should be noted that for the past four years, Batyrbekov has been prosecuted for the third time.
So, in October 2015, the trial was held on Batyrbekov accused of defamation of the deputy prosecutor of Saryagash region, Nurlan Saparov, contained in the article “Neither the law, nor God … or will the innocent plea for help reach the General Prosecutor’s Office?” published in the newspaper “Adilet”. In the publication, the journalist expressed doubts about the legality of the actions of the deputy prosecutor in two cases: the charge of two young people in robbery, as well as in the case related to the possible illegal seizure of property by officials of the Department of Justice of Saryagash region. At the trial, Batyrbekov said that the arguments, that he published in the material, were based on personal, inner conviction. However, the court found the editor’s guilt proven and sentenced him to one and a half years’ imprisonment
On January 28, 2016, Batyrbekov was released. However, a year later he again appeared in court for the same publication. That time, on charges of defamation of a judge, juror, prosecutor, pre-trial investigator, expert, bailiff and law enforcement officer. The second court sentenced the journalist to two years in prison …
It should be noted that the International Foundation for the Protection of Freedom of Speech “Adil Soz” in 2015 called Batyrbekov a “prisoner of freedom of speech”. And the Foundation “Open Dialog” (European organization dedicated to the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in post-Soviet countries, as well as in the EU countries) in 2017 included the journalist in the List of Kazakh political prisoners and people faced with politically motivated persecution by Kazakhstan.
“Once again, Kazakhstan ignored the UN recommendations on decriminalization of slander,” said Tamara Kaleeva, Head of the Foundation “Adil Soz”, regarding another Batyrbekov’s condemnation. “The UN Council and Human Rights Committee have repeatedly recommended Kazakhstan to decriminalize slander and insult.” General Comment No.34 of the UN Human Rights Committee expressly prescribes: “States-participants should consider excluding slander from the category of crimes, but in any case, criminal law should be applied only in connection with the most serious cases, and deprivation of liberty under no circumstances should be considered an adequate measure of punishment”.
