(Adil Soz/IFEX) – On 4 May 2005, the Culture, Information and Sport Ministry’s Information and Archives Committee shut down “Respublika Business Review” (“Respublika Delovoye Obozreniye”) newspaper and “Respublika Analytical Weekly” (“Respublika Analiticheskiy Yezhenedelnik”) newspapers after an Appeals Court upheld an earlier 25 March district court ruling. “Respublika Business Review”‘s editorial board received a letter of […]
(Adil Soz/IFEX) – On 4 May 2005, the Culture, Information and Sport Ministry’s Information and Archives Committee shut down “Respublika Business Review” (“Respublika Delovoye Obozreniye”) newspaper and “Respublika Analytical Weekly” (“Respublika Analiticheskiy Yezhenedelnik”) newspapers after an Appeals Court upheld an earlier 25 March district court ruling.
“Respublika Business Review”‘s editorial board received a letter of notification from the Committee stating that it had issued an order shutting down both publications. The notification was signed by the Committee’s acting chairman.
On 5 May, the Prosecutor’s Office in Almaty, the capital city, sent a letter of clarification to the deputy editor of “Respublika Business Review”, Galina Dyrdina, saying the papers had been deregistered in accordance with Kazakhstan’s law on the mass media. As a result, the letter said, further publication of either would be illegal and carry a penalty under Article 342 of Kazakhstan’s Administrative Code.
The editorial board of “Respublika Business Review” plans to file complaints with appropriate institutions regarding what it considers the Committee’s illegal action.
On 25 March, a court decision shut down “Respublika Business Review” newspaper and “Respublika Analytical Weekly” by ordering the liquidation of the Bastau company, then owner of the two papers. The Culture, Information and Sport Ministry’s Information and Archives Committee brought the lawsuit against Bastau after “Respublika Analytical Weekly” published a controversial interview with Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Russian nationalist party Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR).
