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In Kazakhstan, journalists and representatives of civil society structures wrote an open appeal demanding an end to pressure on media workers. appeal, published project Adamdar, addressed to the President of the country, the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior and the Chairman of the National Security Committee.
The authors of the appeal emphasize that since the beginning of January, an organized campaign of harassment and discrediting against journalists has been launched in Kazakhstan. “Representatives of the authorities are trying to equate us with terrorists and marauders, calling the organizers of riots and pogroms accomplices,” the authors of the appeal note. “An organized campaign of discredit directed against independent journalists, human rights activists and civil activists can already now be transformed into political repression and persecution.”
The message emphasizes that some journalists, cameramen and photographers suffered during the suppression of protests, performing their professional duty: “Someone was injured, someone was beaten, someone died.”
Journalists Lukpan Akhmedyarov from Uralsk, Nurzhan Baimuldin from Kokshetau, Daryn Nursapar from Ust-Kamenogorsk were under administrative arrest.
“An increasing number of bloggers and citizen journalists report reprisals for taking photos and videos of events that took place in all cities of Kazakhstan. Courts in such cases violate all possible procedural norms and are not much different from passing a sentence “on the spot”,” the authors of the appeal emphasize.
According to them, three independent publications in Kazakhstan were subjected to illegal blocking: Vlast, KazTAG and Orda.kz.
“We demand that the authorities stop the organized campaign to discredit independent journalists, human rights activists and other civilians. Law enforcement and law enforcement agencies should be engaged in the fight against real criminals, terrorists and conspirators, and not look for them among those who defend democratic values and basic human rights and freedoms,” the appeal emphasizes.
According to Art. 20, paragraph 2 of the Constitution of Kazakhstan, everyone has the right to freely receive and disseminate information in any way not prohibited by law.
The authors of the appeal demand “the immediate release of all detained journalists and bloggers, as well as a public investigation into the reasons for their detention.” “Our work is the most important and indispensable condition for the preservation and development of society, the preservation of peace and democratic values,” the journalists emphasize.
Journalist Inga Imanbay of the Bureau for Human Rights in Kazakhstan told The Insider that many of the journalists covering the protests are now being called in for questioning. According to her, on January 4-6, journalists were detained along with protesters and arrested, despite the fact that media workers were carrying relevant documents and vests. Phones and cameras were confiscated from journalists.
Inga Imanbay herself covered the January 4 events in Almaty, where she witnessed the use of tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters. She notes that Kazakh journalists have been subjected to strong pressure from the “authoritarian and almost totalitarian” regime in recent years, but the situation has noticeably worsened since the January protests. “We were always detained, we were always judged, fined, banned by the court from engaging in journalistic activities for several years, but for the first time we felt a mortal threat at these protests,” Inga Imanbay added.
In the first days of 2022, protests began in Kazakhstan due to higher fuel prices. The rallies ended in clashes with the security forces, who used stun grenades and then military weapons. Against the backdrop of protests, during the suppression of which died hundreds of people, the current president of the country, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, removed ex-president Nursultan Nazarbayev from the post of chairman of the Security Council of Kazakhstan.
On January 5, Tokayev turned to the leaders of the CSTO countries for help “in overcoming the terrorist threat.” Already on the night of January 6, it became known about the decision of the CSTO Council to send peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan. They included units of the armed forces of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
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