(Adil Soz/IFEX) – Adil Soz International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech and the Union of Kazakh Journalists call on the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Masimov to dismiss Information Minister Yermukhamet Yertysbayev, following a scandal involving Era TV. On 6 March 2007, the Committee on Information and Archives, of the Ministry of Information […]
(Adil Soz/IFEX) – Adil Soz International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech and the Union of Kazakh Journalists call on the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Masimov to dismiss Information Minister Yermukhamet Yertysbayev, following a scandal involving Era TV.
On 6 March 2007, the Committee on Information and Archives, of the Ministry of Information and Culture, filed a lawsuit against Era TV television station, seeking its suspension for three months.
The formal reason given in the lawsuit for this request is the station’s violation of the broadcasting law requiring 50 percent of broadcast content to be in the Kazakh language. A short-term evaluation of the station’s content revealed programming in Kazakh to stand at approximately 35-38 percent. The inter-district economic court in Astana has scheduled the first hearing on this case for19 March.
Era TV journalists believe that the real motivation for the lawsuit, and in particular for the three-month suspension request, was an open letter by the head of Era TV, Mirbulat Kunbayev, and the executive director of 31 Channel, Nurzhan Mukhamedzhanov, in which they alleged irregularities in the processing, by the Ministry of Information and Culture, of a 15 January broadcasting tender.
The letter, addressed to the head of the Presidential Administration, Adilbek Dzhaksybekov, claimed that the process deprived media companies equal opportunity to compete for television and radio broadcasting rights. In their letter, they demanded that the ministry cancel the results of the faulty tendering process and that it organize another process that complies with the law. On 31 January, the Association of TV and Radio Broadcasters issued a similar letter to the prime minister and to General Prosecutor Rashid Tusupbekov.
Information and Culture Minister Yermukhamet Yertysbayev, who presided over the tendering process, publicly displayed his displeasure over the letter prior to the filing of the lawsuit. Although dated 23 February, the lawsuit was actually filed on 6 March, shortly after a number of local television channels broadcast footage of Yertysbayev forcing journalists out of a public meeting and reported on demands that the minister resign made by local media advocacy organizations.
During the 2 March gathering, journalists asked Yertysbayev for his comments. Era TV journalists, invited among others to cover the public event, were forced to leave the room, after the minister shouted: “What media outlet you represent? What do you want? Take away your camera! . . . Get these people out of here! . . . Get Era TV out of here, now! . . . We will not give an interview to Era; they did a critical report [accusing me].” The minister referred to the open letter as a “complaint”.
The incident occurred in a public place, where the minister was obliged by the law on mass media “to provide information to media representatives on an equal basis, if requested.”
Yertsyabayev’s actions, since being appointed minister, have regularly conflicted with his commitment to the law and his previously-declared willingness to defend journalists’ rights.
In May 2006, the Congress of Kazakh Journalists (CJK) demanded Yertsyabayev’s resignation, saying he had used “authoritarian methods, seeking to forcibly change staff at the state media outlets he controls, and censorship, using threats against journalists he does not like.” In response, the minister said that the CJK “roughly violates the Constitution of Kazakhstan and its laws, trying to influence the head of the state,” ignoring the constitutional right of people to freely express their opinions and views.
Over the past year, the local journalistic community has repeatedly protested against legal amendments proposed by the minister that threatened to restrict freedom of expression in Kazakhstan.
In light of these actions against Era TV and statements made by the information minister, Adil Soz and the Union of Kazakh Journalists call on the prime minister of Kazakhstan, Karim Masimov, to dismiss Yertysbayev from his post.
