(Adil Soz/IFEX) – The press agency of the dissolved Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) party stated that, in February 2005, police officers stepped up efforts to seize copies of “Dauys DVK” newspaper from the newspaper’s distributors. The DVK has been shut down by court order. On 8 February, police officers watching a DVK branch building […]
(Adil Soz/IFEX) – The press agency of the dissolved Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) party stated that, in February 2005, police officers stepped up efforts to seize copies of “Dauys DVK” newspaper from the newspaper’s distributors. The DVK has been shut down by court order.
On 8 February, police officers watching a DVK branch building in Uralsk seized copies of “Dauys DVK” and “Soz” newspapers from people leaving the building. According to a DVK press release, the officers seized copies from distributors as well, under the pretext that both papers were issued by the dissolved DVK party. In some cases, distributors were fined 100 tenge (approx. US$0.76), without being issued a formal ticket.
According to the International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law in Northern Kazakhstan, a Petropavl assistant prosecutor and police officers visited the office of a DVK party member surnamed Kenzhegaliyev on 7 February, and without explanation seized 7,000 photocopies of “Dauys DVK”.
The DVK’s press agency in Kokshetau (the regional center of Akmolinsk region) stated that a retired DVK activist, surnamed Istavletov, was detained by police officers on 6 February outside the office for having five copies of “Dauys DVK”. He was taken to the Kokshetau Internal Affairs Department and later released. However, the police seized the newspapers. Later the same day, police detained another party activist, Ludmila Bulah, and seized 300 copies of “Dauys DVK” from her. They said they had received verbal instructions from an on-duty police officer to detain the distributors and seize the papers.
On the evening of 8 February, police officers stopped the car in which Marat Zhanuzakov, DVK Akmolinsk branch head, and Bahyzhan Kanapiya, the branch office manager, were riding. The officers seized all copies of “Dauys DVK” that were in the car and took the DVK members to the Internal Affairs Department. The detainees were released after several hours of questioning.
In Kyzylorda region, where “Dauys DVK” is being distributed for free, the Regional Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against the DVK party and Vladimir Kozlov, one of the newspaper’s editors, for failing to indicate in the free copies the name and address of the printing firm where the papers were printed. The DVK press agency explained that copies of the newspaper printed by a printing firm contained that firm’s name and address. However, copies of the paper which were photocopied at the editorial office did not contain the name and address of the office where they were printed, since that would have meant indicating the editorial office’s address twice.
The prosecutor considered this a violation and seized all copies of the newspaper. The case was later brought before the Almaty Prosecutor’s Office.
