(Adil Soz/IFEX) – “Uralskaya nedelya” newspaper is facing repeated obstacles to its publication following the refusal of three local printing companies to work with the paper in Uralsk, western Kazakhstan. The newspaper recently signed a contract with A-Poligrafia printing company. The contract was later terminated by the company, which said it would no longer print […]
(Adil Soz/IFEX) – “Uralskaya nedelya” newspaper is facing repeated obstacles to its publication following the refusal of three local printing companies to work with the paper in Uralsk, western Kazakhstan. The newspaper recently signed a contract with A-Poligrafia printing company. The contract was later terminated by the company, which said it would no longer print the paper because of “unforeseen circumstances.” The company has printed only one edition of the paper since then.
Tamara Yeslyamova, editor-in chief of “Uralskaya nedelya”, said the formal reason given by the printing company’s staff is too vague and unclear. She alleged that the refusal was politically motivated and aimed at shutting down local independent newspapers.
The newspaper’s founding company, Zhurnalistskaya initsiativa, is searching for alternative printing options outside of western Kazakhstan.
Two other printing companies in Uralsk refused to print “Uralskaya nedelya” between December 2006 and January 2007.
On 11 January 2007, the printing company Poligrafservise abruptly terminated its contract with the paper. The head of the company, Sergey Iljin, said in a private conversation with Yeslyamova that the decision to terminate the contract was due to pressure from the akimat (local government). The company was repeatedly subjected to inspections by tax authorities, who warned it to stop printing the paper, threatening it with closure.
A month earlier, Dastan printing company justified its refusal saying they did not have enough capacity to print the newspaper’s entire circulation.
Yeslyamova believes the paper fell out of favour with the akim (governor) of the region, Nurgali Ashimov, after it published a number of reports alleging that he had engaged in corrupt practices.
On another occasion in January, the newspaper received a court decision obliging it to pay 300 000 tenge (approx. $US 2,400) in damages to a company, SPP Metalloizdeliya, after the company sued for “protection of business reputation.” The lawsuit was filed after the newspaper published an article entitled “Neither money nor the plant”. Although the paper has presented documents proving the article to be true, the court ruled in the plaintiff’s favour.
“Uralskaya nedelya” is one of the most popular political weeklies in the region.
