(Adil Soz/IFEX) – Journalist Kaziz Toguzbayev was charged on 28 August 2006 with insulting the honor and dignity of President Nursultan Nazarbayev under article 318 of the Criminal Code. The charges stemmed from a 2 April article he wrote, titled “Roman Catholic Pope and Astana Pope – feel the difference,” on the political news site […]
(Adil Soz/IFEX) – Journalist Kaziz Toguzbayev was charged on 28 August 2006 with insulting the honor and dignity of President Nursultan Nazarbayev under article 318 of the Criminal Code. The charges stemmed from a 2 April article he wrote, titled “Roman Catholic Pope and Astana Pope – feel the difference,” on the political news site http://www.kub.kz
This is the second time he is being tried for “insulting” the president. He faced similar charges after publishing an article titled “Mafia regime shadows the murderers of Altynbek Sarsenbayev” (see IFEX alert of 29 June 2006).
The criminal proceedings into both cases were initiated by senior police investigator Zhanybek Zhumazhanov.
“This case has demonstrated once again that the court system in Kazakhstan keeps using antidemocratic criminal norms against journalists for carrying out their professional activities. It obviously contradicts international freedom of expression standards,” said Adil Soz Foundation President Tamara Kaleyeva.
