Independent media are being demolished

In Kazakhstan, under the pretext of fighting extremism, independent media are closed. In total, about 30 websites, 9 newspapers and 2 TV channels may be banned. PublicPost found out from the editor of the Respublika website, subject to ban, Evgenia Mazhitova, where so much extremism in the republic came from.

The Almaty prosecutor's office filed a lawsuit to ban the publication and distribution of eight newspapers and 23 online publications (belonging to the editorial office of Respublika), as well as the newspaper Vzglyad, TV channels K+ and Stan-TV and duplicating them on the Internet -resources. The state prosecution considers these media extremist, although there are no court decisions against the owners of these resources or the authors of the articles.

How the Kazakh media reached extremism

In December 2011, there was a workers' strike in Zhanaozen, which resulted in mass unrest and the deployment of troops into the city. Then, according to official data, 15 people were killed and more than 100 were injured, and according to oil workers, much more. The Kazakh authorities, in search of the culprit, chose the Alga party and its leader Vladimir Kozlov. The prosecutor's office believes that during the protest of Ozenmunaigas workers in Zhanaozen, members of the Alga party, led by its leader Vladimir Kozlov, distributed leaflets containing calls for a violent seizure of power and signs of inciting social discord and hostility.

Kozlov was arrested in January 2012 after returning to Kazakhstan from Brussels, where he spoke at a hearing organized by the European Parliament's subcommittee on human rights on the events in Zhenaozen. The text of his speech became proof of his guilt. On October 8, 2012, he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.

On November 26, 2012, the Almaty court decided to suspend the activities of the opposition party Alga, which was in the process of registration. The prosecutor's office justified this decision by preparing for a trial to recognize the party as extremist.

As part of the Vladimir Kozlov case, publications in independent Kazakh and Russian media writing about the situation in Kazakhstan were considered. The prosecutor's office ordered an examination of these media outlets during the days when there was a strike and dispersal of workers in Zhanaozen. Experts came to the conclusion that the orientation of the media is extremist. Media representatives were not allowed to testify at the trial. On November 20, the prosecutor's office sent to court claims to recognize a number of opposition media as extremist and demands to close them. The prosecutor's office justified its claims by the court verdict against Vladimir Kozlov that had entered into force.

Suindikov Nurdaulet, official representative of the General Prosecutor's Office of Kazakhstan, excerpts from a statement on the ban on independent media :

"...The court's verdict (we are talking about the verdict to Vladimir Kozlov - editor's note) states that "the conceptual content of the materials of the K+ TV channel, the Internet portals Stan-TV, Respublika, and the Respublika newspapers" , “Voice of the Republic”, “Vzglyad” are aimed at inciting social discord.

An analysis of the content of the K+ TV channel’s programs, publications in the newspapers Vzglyad, Voice of the Republic, Internet portals Respublika, Stan-TV and other materials showed the presence of propaganda in them for the violent seizure of power and undermining the security of the state.”

These conclusions of the court were confirmed by the conclusions of a number of forensic examinations.

According to the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Combating Extremism”, the activities of an association of individuals if they engage in extremism are subject to judicial prohibition..."

Evgenia Mazhitova, editor of the website " Republic of Kz ":

“Our portal is not Kazakh, but Russian, like the K+ TV channel, and it was also included in the list of sites that the prosecutor’s office wants to close. There have not been any separate criminal cases against us and other publications, and there will not be any. We don’t understand How can we do this, we don’t understand the logic of the prosecutor’s office. Our site, like many of those listed by the prosecutor’s office, is not related to the Alga party. We are not an opposition media, we are an independent media. Nevertheless, during the consideration of the case, Kozlov’s policies were carried out. expert opinions on the work of some media, we are not talking about publications, but about the conceptual orientation of the resources. Experts came to the conclusion that our orientation and attitude are extremist. Based on the verdict against Kozlov, we were immediately recognized as extremists. they included us in the process so that we could speak in our defense, they wrote petitions, but they didn’t let us in.

Moreover, in this ridiculous lawsuit against the media, the prosecutor’s office also mixed pages on social networks: LiveJournal, Facebook, Blogspot and others. According to the law of Kazakhstan, it is impossible to hold publications as defendants, but only their owners; in our case, it’s the other way around—it’s the media, and not specific people, that are brought in as defendants.

Nazarbayev is already old, apparently they are preparing some kind of scenario for a change of power and, in order for everything to go smoothly, they are carrying out a purge, they are afraid that the media may interfere with them. We are big-mouthed, and they want to shut everyone up in one fell swoop.

Apparently, the outcome of the trial is clear, and we will be closed. This poses no threat to us as Russian media; our website has been blocked in Kazakhstan for four years without any court decisions. We can only be closed by a decision of a Russian court."

The court hearing to consider the claim of the prosecutor's office against the Internet sites of the "Republic of KZ" will take place on December 6 in Almaty.