(IPI/IFEX) – IPI is expressing concern about independent reports which indicate that the Kazakh government is clamping down on the private media in the run-up to the 10 January 1999 elections. According to IPI’s information, the authorities have visited many independent media offices and warned journalists and media owners against covering the opposition candidates, or […]
(IPI/IFEX) – IPI is expressing concern about independent reports which
indicate that the Kazakh government is clamping down on the private media in
the run-up to the 10 January 1999 elections.
According to IPI’s information, the authorities have visited many
independent media offices and warned journalists and media owners against
covering the opposition candidates, or publishing negative stories against
the President, his policies or his family.
Additionally, IPI’s sources have reported that an independent radio station
has been told that any political stories must be cleared by an “advisor”
before airing, and that the director of an independent television station
has told his news department to consider themselves part of the “President’s
team”.
Background Information
The independent media in Kazakhstan already walks a precarious line in view
of some unrealistic aspects of the “language law”. This law states that a
station must broadcast a 50/50 balance of programming in Russian and Kazakh.
Independent research indicates that none of the stations in Kazakhstan,
including government television, are able to maintain that balance. The
private media are, as a result, reluctant to risk offending the authorities
for fear that the language law may be invoked in retaliation. The threat of
closure or expensive court litigation is having a chilling effect on
legitimate journalistic coverage of the election campaign.
Journalists are also under the threat of prison terms if any coverage
“insults” the President or a member of his family. Consequently, a
significant number of articles are lost to self-censorship.
Our information indicates that the administration has financial and
editorial links to many of the country’s largest private television and
radio networks as well as print ventures. The President’s daughter, Dariga
Nazarbayeva, controls at least three television networks and two radio
networks. Many other family members are reputed to maintain ownership links
to other stations. These ties mean neutral and critical coverage of the
administration’s policies are virtually non-existent, even before overt
state interference is taken into account.
There are also widespread allegations that stations with administrative
connections have not been obliged to go through the licensing process. While
they have been allowed to broadcast automatically, many other independent
stations have had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars before
broadcasting.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the President:
free press in Kazakhstan are encouraging, it is evident that the state is
continuing to impede the free flow of information
pluralistic press to keep the public reliably informed and to stimulate
public debate, and that this flow of information is particularly vital in
the run-up to elections
journalists are permitted to freely practice their profession without fear
of censorship or harassment
is inevitable if it continues to muzzle the press
Appeals To
H. E. Nursultan Nazarbayev
President of Kazakhstan
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Fax: +7 3272 63 95 95 / +7 3272 63 76 33
